The Theme Of Violence In Long Way Down

Leaving a Life of Violence to Find Your Own Path In Long Way Down, Reynolds set the theme with his introduction of Will Holloman, the main character. Everyone believes Will doesn't have the guts to follow The Rules like those before him. The Rules are simple: no crying, no snitching, and killing for revenge. His brother Shawn died following those rules, so why should Will have the onus of taking revenge for him and have that target on his back? Besides, he didn’t make The Rules and multiple members of his family died following them. Up until his brother’s death, the third rule hadn’t meant anything to him. Now Will decides between continuing the path of violence and revenge created by generations before him, or breaking that chain and setting

Throughout different chapters of the novel, Reynolds provides readers with Will’s background and how his family’s influence has taught him how to combat encounters of violence in order to overcome them. Within the first pages of the novel, Reynolds introduces Will and soon after the incident of Shawn’s death. In Will’s neighborhood gang violence is everywhere. He grew up with it and knows, “if the blood/inside you is on the inside/of someone else,/you never want to/see it on the outside of /them” (Reynolds 5). What he means by this is no one ever wants to live to see the day when a loved one of theirs is shot dead. Even when Shawn was just a kid growing up, his mother would say, “I know you’re young/ gotta get it out,/ but just remember, when/ you’re walking

Starting on page 71, Will steps onto the elevator from the 7th floor to travel all the way down to the ground floor. While he hoped the elevator would go quickly, the first past figure he encounters is Buck, Shawn’s old friend. Upon their encounter, Buck tells Will, “Right, right. You gon’ follow/ The Rules, huh?/… But you ain’t/ got it in you, Will,/ … Your brother did, but you-/ you don’t” (Reynolds 101). Buck’s intent was to prove that Will and Shawn are completely different in the aspect that Will isn’t capable of killing another man because he doesn’t want to have to follow The Rules, especially at such a young age. Reynolds continues with the theme of escaping the path of violence as he introduces more characters that get on the elevator with Will, one in particular, Uncle Mark. Uncle Mark approaches Will's situation by saying, “I mean, let’s play it out,/ how this whole thing is gon’/ go down. Play it out/ like a movie…/ Will stands over dead brother Shawn,/ Two holes in his chest. Blood all over the/ ground…/ Will pulls the gun out,/ and…/ And shoots” (Reynolds 175-180). Explaining to Will the repercussions of his actions and breaking down how the situation would really play out, knocks some sense into Will's brain. Will responds to the scene Uncle Mark breaks down for him