51 pages • 1 hour read
Jason ReynoldsLong Way Down
Fiction | Novel/Book in Verse | YA | Published in 2017A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Symbols & Motifs
The Rules
The Rules are the law in Will’s neighborhood and in his life. They are simple: no crying, no snitching, revenge. The Rules are referenced throughout novel as Will attempts to follow them, seeking revenge for Shawn’s death. The Rules symbolize both masculinity and survival: They are the product of toxic masculinity, which encourages men to manage grief with violence, but they also arose from decades of trying to survive in a world of random and accidental violence. Since standard law is rarely enforced and the police cannot be trusted, The Rules become a kind of vigilante justice. As Will says, “They weren’t meant to be broken / they were meant for the broken / to follow” (35). The Rules are a “broken” man’s only prescription for grief. Despite being a symbol of survival, The Rules only lead to more violence, such as guaranteed early death or imprisonment.
The Gun
The gun is a symbol of unstoppable violence capable of setting off a chain of events that will never end. The gun’s power to take life at random is emphasized early on, when Will picks it up for the first time and remarks, “Heavier than / I expected / Like holding / a newborn” (59). The simile comparing the gun’s weight to that of a newborn baby suggests its ability to snatch life away. The idea of unstoppable violence recurs often, but it is best symbolized by Dani, who died in drive-by shooting on a playground at age eight. Though Dani is not party to the cycle of violence or The Rules, she still bears their consequences. Though The Rules have structure, the gun, and what it can do, is nearly impossible to control.
The Elevator
The Elevator is a liminal space, a place between action and inaction, life and death, the cycle of violence and the end of that cycle. The laws of the real world don’t apply here. Ghosts appear, and the smoke from their cigarettes does not dissipate. The laws of gravity and physics don’t apply either, and time is warped—though the ride seems to take ages, it is only one slow minute from the seventh floor to the lobby. Because the elevator is a liminal space, Will is allowed to consider his next steps. This space between life and death lets him objectively observe the violent cycle, which he may or may not perpetuate.
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