The ghosts that visit Will talk about the cycle of violence that goes through generations. Will is in grief but also can't quite connect with what is going on inside himself, "How do you hug what's haunting you?" he says.
The author uses poetry to provoke an emotion in the reader with repetition, fragmented sentences, and single words to mimic Will's tortured thoughts and trauma over his brother's death. Reynolds doesn't waste any words and there is much for discussion in this novel. The wobbly metal gives the character vertigo like a person who has experienced post-traumatic stress syndrome (PTSD) and the "L" on the button stands for loser, loss, lobby, or lit.
The rickety metal elevator symbolizes a jail or cage or coffin that traps a person it moans and makes a "piercing sound" when it stops. Will is visited by ghosts of the past who have been victims or chosen violence to deal with trauma. This novel in verse is a quick read with the narrative interwoven into poetic words that uses figurative language that is symbolic, metaphorical, repetitive, fragmented, and rich in imagery that pulls the reader and the senses in with a bang: "Sadness split his face like a cold breeze on chapped lip after attempting to smile." The protagonist's older brother has been shot to death and he takes a 60-second ride down an elevator with thoughts of revenge against the murderer as he carries his brother's pistol in his back pocket. "Long Way Down" is a powerful story about the downward spiral of violence in society and while Jason Reynolds relates it specifically to an African American urban community, it can apply to violence within any society or trauma any individual is dealing with in life.
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