The book Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds is a unique free verse poetry book. Long Way Down has one main setting in this story, an elevator. In this elevator, Will, the main character, is greeted by ghosts who knew his older brother Shawn. As Will ventures out to obtain justice for Shawn’s death, the spirits try to subliminally stop him from taking a life, just for revenge. Reynolds utilizes the format and details in the story to have different perspectives in one particular situation.

One part of this structure is to gain different viewpoints on a specific case, the effect is to have Will think about the choices he’s about to make and learn from other’s stories. One by one throughout each floor, several ghosts who knew Shawn and/or Will enter the elevator and tell their stories. For instance, Will’s father came into the elevator and tells him about his experiences ; he was murdered for killing the person who killed his brother. “Uncle Mark and my father looked at me with hollow eyes dancing somewhere between guilt and grief, which I couldn’t make sense of until my father admitted that he had killed the wrong guy.” (Reynolds, 218) By having Reynolds include these two significant statements, it allows Will to see how killing someone for vengeance is not only sinful, but can also go wrong many ways, such as bullets missing, killing the wrong person, and guilt.

In addition to perspectives on stories, the spirits subconsciously persuade Will not to murder another. Because the persuasion is subtle, Will doesn’t actually see the ghosts trying to coax him into doing the right thing. As the reader though, we can use our knowledge to infer what might happen, and what the author and characters are trying to say. For example, there is a part in the story where Will’s father [as a ghost] pulls out a gun and points it towards Will. He then gets terrified and starts crying, but his father didn’t actually shoot him. At first glance, this seems to be confusing and perplexing but as you start to think deeper into it, we can come to a realization  that Will’s dad is attempting to show him what it felt like to be held at gunpoint. “My father’s hand gripped my back as I did my best to bury myself in his armpit, to get lost in the new and strangely familiar feeling of fatherhood. And that’s when it happened. He pulled the gun from my waistband. And put it to my head.” (Reynolds, 223-224) Like mentioned, it is said that Will’s father is trying to scare him. “Then Pop uncocked the gun, wrapped his arms around me again, squeezed tight like I was some rag doll, and stuffed the gun back into my waistband.” (Reynolds,231) If the characters had told Will in the beginning to not kill the person, Will might’ve backed out or gotten mad. When the spirits subliminally tell Will, he would have just trapped the idea in the back of his mind, allowing him to see his wrongs.

On a more consequential note, Long Way Down brings attention to the importance and cruelty of gun violence. This book mentions the absurd usage of weapons and killings, and how normal it is in Will’s world. For instance, on the elevator, characters such as Dani, Uncle Mark, and even Shawn were murdered by guns. The story’s structure is almost informative, telling stories about useless revenge and how people are killed everyday. It brings notice upon a problem that is going on everywhere to this world. “I told her how I remember staring at her the whole time. Her eyes wide, brightness dimming. Her mouth, open. Bubble gum and blood.” (Reynolds, 133) People who read this book perhaps will see another story, another perspective on the dangers and tragedies of gun brutality. Today, gun violence is heard of way more than needed. Men and women with cold hearts do not think of other’s life and stories as they ruthlessly kill. Long way down does a fantastic way of bringing consciousness to this matter.

As expressed previously, Jason Reynolds uses perspective, persuasions, and detailed stories/expressions as a way to convince Will about his decisions. Not only is the book entertaining, it is also informative and brings attention to important matters. Reynold’s way of writing Long Way Down might have been different to other books, but his format and structure of the text ties the novel together while teaching the reader significant and valuable lessons in the real world.