Jason Reynolds Long Way Down Study Guide

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William Hollowman’s Biggest Influences If your brother was murdered would you kill the man who did it; would you be able to? In Jason Reynolds Long Way Down, a fifteen year old boy named William Holloman living in the hood surrounded by gang violence has to find and kill his brother Shawn’s killer due to the rules of the hood, no crying, no snitching, and get revenge no matter what. On his way to kill who he thinks is Shawn's killer, he leaves his apartment toting his dead brother's gun with one thing in mind: revenge. He gets in the elevator and on every floor someone he knows who's died of gun violence steps on.When he gets to the lobby he steps out and goes on his way to make sure he avenges his brother. Will was influenced to follow the rules, due to Buck and Shawn being so committed to them they'd die for them. …show more content…

Buck was the first person on the elevator to take care of, raise and watch over Shawn after their father died. In the book, the quote “‘So what you ‘bout to do?’ My eyes turned to razor blades. I'm about to do what I gotta do. ‘What you woulda done.’ I squared Follow the rules.’”(Reynolds 95) A poetic device used in this quote is the metaphor “my eyes turned to razor blades” used to show the pain and anger will be feeling. this type of pain and anger that can drive a man to do anything. This is emphasizing how Buck is influencing Will by pushing him to say what he is going to do, making Will boil up his anger to use it in the moment. Will see’s Buck as a big brother to Shawn, which is also a reason why Will looks up to him. Additionally, the quote “‘right, right. You gon’ follow the rules, huh?’ ‘Yeah that's right,’ I said, opening my stance to let him know this wasn’t a game, that I was for real. Buck pressed his finger to my chest like he was pushing an elevator

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