Imagery In Jason Reynolds's Long Way Down

We might find this issue to be small, but think about the millions of people who have their family killed by gun violence. The author want us to know by including descriptions on the setting of places such as the freeway “People get killed on freeways all the time” (159) The many moments that involve a gun actually have two meanings in the book. On one hand it signifies violence and destruction, in the story we see that Lauren’s journey up north witnesses countless acts with many guns: “One group chasing the other, both firing their guns as though they and their enemies were the only people in the world”(223). This not only shows us the brutal nature of people but also how people will use the guns to get what they want, knowing that it might kill someone.

However, the majority of those 31,000 firearm deaths are suicides. Lucas keeps adding fuel to the fire by saying “according to the FBI, there were about 8,700 gun homicides in 2011” ("New Gun Laws won’t save Lives."). These numbers are to scare the reader to see that even a small can hit close to home when one of those numbers is a family member, friend, or an

In effort to ending his unhappiness, the shooter kills himself. Many people today consider committing suicide because of their unhappiness with themselves and the world. As the years pass on, suicide increases as a common situation in society. To stop violence, people should consider other activities such that of a natural high to help them avoid falling into boredom or to help them feel happy. If violence does not exist, society would evolve into a better state of peace and happiness.

Jason Reynolds uses many literary devices in his book Long Way Down to convey various messages and connections to the real world in gun-related violence. For example, America faces massive gun violence issues in large cities like Chicago, and even small-town schools. Chicago has a rate of 29 homicides related to firearm use for every one thousand residents which is leading the US in gun violence-related statistics. Opposing gangs make up a large number of these homicides as they are constantly at each other's throats in search of vengeance for a brother or friend that was killed much like the gun violence cycle displayed in this book. Long Way Down emphasizes the harm and sorrow that follows behind gun violence as well as the never-ending cycle

In his novel Long Way Down, author Jason Reynolds explores a community of "the broken" where bloodshed is essentially normalized, where all live by a set of rules that must never be disobeyed: no crying, no snitching, and always take revenge. Reynolds's purpose is to emphasize the significance of gun violence and its effect on the victims who must suffer its consequences because it provokes internal conflicts such as guilt, depression, and revenge. He uses hyperbole, imagery, and symbolism to adopt a mournful, enraging, and devastating tone to convince readers in similar circumstances to Will always to persevere because revenge will only produce another bitter and anguished individual. Reynolds uses hyperbole in his novel to highlight the

Readers are given the opportunity to put this into perspective and ultimately associate guns with murder in the home, making Ivins argument more persuasive. “Did the gun kill someone? No. But if there had been no gun, no one would have died” (Ivins). Phrasing like this, undoubtedly sparks some form of emotion for readers, reflecting the author's attempt to influence their judgment on the existence of guns in American

The book, Ghost, by Jason Reynolds is a story about a boy named Castle, but is called Ghost. Castle has a very rough life because his father is imprisoned and his mother struggles with finances. Castle is a misbehaved kid who struggles in school and makes a track team which motivates him to be good in school. Track played ended up playing a huge role in his life and went through the ups and downs with him. Track taught him respect and discipline which spread throughout his home.

Did you know that there are at least 321 people that deal with gun violence on a daily basis? Out of the 321 people, 111 people have died from being shot. In the novel, Long Way Down, Will, the main character, experiences the death of his older brother, Shawn. A day after his death, Will decides to follow the rules, which are no crying, no snitching, and seeking revenge. He takes the elevator, on his way to kill Riggs, the guy that Will thinks killed his brother in order to avenge Shawn.

Her livelihood has been ripped away from her and she no longer has control over her husband or her land. The gun represents that loss of control by killing the man that had caused in in the first place. “The Old Gun” is not the only text in which guns symbolize a loss of control; Lin-Manuel Miranda’s musical Hamilton also follows that line of

This is a quote about Will seeing Shawn cry for the first time. “And even though/ his face was wet/ with tears he wasn’t/ supposed to cry/ when he was alive./ I couldn’t see him/ as anything less/ than my brother,/ my favorite,/ my only” (299). This quote shows that Will sees his brother breaking The Rules and is okay with it.

In Long Way Down, by Jason Reynolds, gun violence was a prominent theme that affected the lives of the characters. William Holloman, who was 15 years old, realised it was his responsibility to take revenge for the death of his brother, Shawn, who died due to the neighbourhood’s rule number three: avenge your loved one by murder. When Will makes his way down the elevator with the intention to kill Carlson Riggs, the alleged murderer of Shawn, he encounters spirits that were dead from their involvement with gun abuse. This resulted in the ghosts sharing their life story, and the different impacts that gun violence had on them. As the cycle of revenge circulates throughout the neighbourhood, the role of gun violence deprives Will of his innocent

Don’t matter, I said. Don’t matter”(Reynolds 143) In his quotes Reynolds wrote about how in Will’s mind that he had to follow the third rule which was Revenge. He never thought of the logistics because he has never shot a gun before and when he was asked if he has ever shot a gun before. He said it doesn't matter which implies he has never, but he is confident

In the United States of America, at least 19,000 of about 4 million yearly deaths are caused by gang and gun violence. Long Way Down, by Jason Reynolds, is a story representing the negative influences of gang and gun violence. After losing his older brother to gun violence, Will Holloman seeks revenge on who he believes is the triggerman. As the story progresses, he is met by the ghosts of those whose lives were taken by gun violence. In Long Way Down, Will’s community, specifically Will and Mikey, is mostly influenced by the intimidation of gang violence and death, which made the act of revenge difficult for Will to carry out.

When she was alive, Will saw her get shot. Will was planning to shoot someone, and he is reminded of how he saw someone close to him die by a gunshot. He could shoot someone and remember how he saw someone close to him die once too, and that is a reason why he won’t shoot Riggs, because of Dani. Shawn was also killed trying to follow the rules. When Uncle Mark died, Shawn thought that it was Frick who had killed him.

When he was younger, he dreamed that she came back to life and talked to him. He would sleep all the time just so he could see her. He could not help this because he was too little to understand that he needed to move on, and he did not have storytelling to help him do so. This parallels with “making the dead seem not quite so dead” when he was