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Long Way Down Gun Violence Quotes

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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. Gang violence influenced Will’s community via intimidation, which was evident in the explanation of The Rules. …show more content…

Rule number three is revenge, and while explaining his revenge plan, Mikey reveals, “ I didn’t know he wasn’t the right guy,/ I was sure that was Mark’s killer./ Had to be” (Reynolds, 220). The Rules are expected to be followed, which is why Mikey thought he had to kill someone. Being so intimidated by this, he was horrified when he realized he killed the wrong guy. Mikey also says, “The Rules/ Taught to me by Mark./ Taught to him by our pop” (Reynolds, 212). After Mark’s killing, Mikey remembered The Rules he was taught. Since The Rules were expected to be followed, Mikey’s first instinct was needing to get revenge. Gang intimidation heavily influenced decisions made by Will’s community, and this included his own …show more content…

In the elevator, Will says, “Please don’t say you’ve come to take me./ Please don’t say I’m dead./ Please” (Reynolds, 89). Even though he is planning to kill someone, Will still fears death. He is afraid he has died because the person he is talking to has long been dead. Will then says, “What’s taking this stupid thing so long?/ I asked, pounding the door as hard as my heart was pounding inside me” (Reynolds, 96). After letting Buck know of his plan to kill someone and avenge Shawn, Will’s nerves started to build up. His adrenaline quickly rose as he grew afraid and impatient of the upcoming events. Will was sure about killing Riggs and the justification behind it, yet he was still afraid of

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