The Long Way Down: Symbolism of Mandala in the Novel

The novel Long Way Down, written by the American author Jason Reynolds, is told by a 15-year-old African American boy William Holloman who is referred to as in the story as Will. He starts by describing the incident of his brother’s assassination and recalls every single moment of the tragic and life-changing event. In Wills neighborhood, after somebody dies, there are some rules: No Crying, No Snitching, and always get revenge. Will believes that the person that killed his brother was a Riggs a member of the Dark Suns Gang, yet he is not completely sure, and plans on getting back revenge. He takes his brother’s gun from his brothers middle drawer and goes to get revenge. The main scenario of the book takes place in less than a minute, as Will rides in an elevator from the eighth floor to the lobby of his building, where he plans on walking out in search for the suspected killer, Riggs. Will meets a variety of ghosts as he goes down the elevator. Each level is someone new, and they each question his intentions and the rules he follows, taking away new lessons each time. In this "Long Way Down" essay, I will analyze mandala as the main source of symbolism in the novel.

Mandala symbolism in Long Way Down

The main idea being conveyed in this mandala is violence in teens and the impulsive results and thoughts which further on creates inner questioning within one. In the outer circle of this mandala, there are three main symbols shown which have a deeper meaning than what they seem — starting with the stopwatch with the number 67 on it. Through Will’s elevator trip, he meets six people who have lost their lives due to gun violence. He meets Buck, Shawn's closest friend, Dani, Will’s early childhood friend who they played every day together, Uncle Mark, who is his dad brother and had a passion for writing scripts. However as the final floors come upon, Will meets the people that have shaped his life, he meets his father Mikey Holloman who passed when Will was three, Frick who is the man who killed his brothers closest friend Buck, and at the second to last floor his recently lost brother Shawn. As Will goes down each level and sees everybody, he realizes shortly after that everyone he meets is a ghost that he can talk with and see but no one else can. All of this occurs in 67 seconds; hence, why the symbol is a stopwatch with the number 67 on it. The whole book is 300 pages, but Reynolds does an outstanding job to make everything so detailed, allowing something so short to become something so long. The reader can keep a constant understanding of the time as every couple pages on top like so “09:08:35 am” (Reynolds 212). Though it may seem like such a short time, these 67 seconds become crucial in Will as every person he meets changes his mindset on what he is about to do — thus showing that actions in such little time can lead to Will thinking back and reflect upon the consequences of his actions.

The second symbol in this outer circle of the mandala is a black sun which further represents the Dark Suns Gang, which is the rivalry gang of Will and his brother. This led to believe that Riggs a member of the gang was the killer of his brother. This created a lot of anger within Will, and he wanted to follow the rules and get revenge on the supposedly killer. However, as he goes down the elevator, on the third floor, he meets Frick, who was a former member of the Dark Suns gang. He was supposed to rob Buck as a form for him to join the gang, but things didn’t go as planned, and Buck fought back. Out of fear, Frick shot and killed Buck, and he later on was killed by Shawn as he followed the three rules. Furthermore, Frick explains the reality of being part of a gang and following the rules as he tells Will the truth of what he’s about to do by showing him his wound straight in his chest made by Shawn when he shot him, “Frick Yanked His Collar Down.” and showed him an injury “a hole in his chest, dime-sized, disgusting, bloody, but not bleeding” (271). Will saw the reality and the results if he shoots and kills somebody and the grief and guilt he will have to live with as he intends to kill Riggs. Consequently, Frick did not recall any member from his previous gang from the descriptions he heard, creating curiosity within Will.

As the third and final object of the outer circle of the mandala, it is a steel coffin. As it might seem just an ordinary coffin, it is something that is always talked about as Will is in the elevator. He compared the elevator to a steel coffin as it is full of dead people and he can not get out of it unless the big steel doors open on the final floor. Will being in this steel coffin as he described, resulted in a lot of panic and stress within in him as all he wanted to do is get out and get revenge for the death of his brother. He became impatient and lost all his tolerance,

“COME ON, I huffed under my breath, impatient, pissy, pissed off, scared, and straight up uncomfortable being crammed in this stupid steel box, this vertical coffin, another second”.

This resulted in Will having illogical and impulsive decisions, which he later on treated with the help of all the dead people around him.

Moving on to the middle circle, there are three more objects placed but compared to the previous three, these have more of a deeper meaning to Will and the reader of the novel. As Will kept on meeting these dead people, they all had one similarity besides dying from gun violence. That similarity was that they all after they talked with Will, pulled out a cigarette, or asked Buck for one as he was the initial influence on smoking. Through Dani’s visit after she spoke to Will questioning if he handled and knew what a gun was

“Buck offered, smoke?[...] Thank You, Dani said wiggling one from the box".

The item of a cigarette is relevant in the novel as after each stop, smoke builds up from each ghost and does not seem to leave as the doors open. Will is continuously baffled on why that strange thing occurs and struggles to find the answer. The smoke caused by the cigarettes in the elevator represents the confusion and uncertainty within Will as he feels after the numerous visits by ghosts and his intentions after the elevator ride. The smoke grows vastly thick after Buck and Dani arrive, as they created cluelessness in Will after him bearly recognizing them. However, it clears when his father who died when he was only three years old enters in the third floor and explains the main events that before this did not add up for Will.

Following this cigarette, the second chosen item in this middle circle of the mandala is a button with the letter “L” on it. Through the novel, there are two interpretations of what this button means for Will. L is a sense of Shawn for Will as he always used to play around with him as they joke that the L button on the elevator stood for Loser,

“L STOOD FOR ‘LOOSER’ when we were kids, so Shawn and I would stand in an empty elevator and wait for someone to get on and push L. And when they did, we would giggle because they were the Loser and me and Shawn were the winners…”.

After Shawn's death, this button came even more significant for Will as it was his only memory left of his brother, and he always thought of it as he rode down the elevator. Regardless of how Will was feeling towards his brother, the button had another meaning. Will was always wanting to get down to the L button or Lobby floor to get the job done, which further represents the urgency within Will and that he wants to get the job done without knowing the consequences. He lost all the patience and wanted to go down as soon as possible,

“WHEN THE ELEVATOR DOOR OPENED no one was there. So I reached over and pushed the L button again and again and again and again. Because that’s what you do when you want the door to close faster”.

Nevertheless, Will is one floor from reaching the bottom and is still is continuously thinking about the L button, and all he wants to do is press it. He has lost all the tolerance and has not yet fully realized the consequences of his actions until someone special and dear in his life enters the elevator right on time.

As the final object in this section, this might be considered as the second most important artifact in the novel, as this item surrounds many quotes and actions. It’s the weapon that killed everybody Will is seeing in the elevator, it’s the weapon that killed his brother, dad, friends, it’s the weapon he plans to kill Riggs with, It’s a gun. The gun represents the gun violence in teens, and the ruthless revenge Will is planning to get. He initially obtains the gun from Shawn’s drawer as it is his first time handling or even touching an armed weapon,

“THE MIDDLE DRAWER CALLED TO ME [...] Just wide enough for my fifteen-year-old fingers to slither and touch cold steel”.

As the night passed all Will could do was think about his brother and what he was going to do to Riggs as he kept a firm grip on the gun under his pillow anxious for the morning rise. The gun represents the ruthless actions that Will is planning to do, but as he goes down, he gets confronted and shown the consequences of the gun. Will had genuinely thought these lessons as he meets his biological father who passed away when he was three. He feels a bond and close to him and a soon as he goes for a hug,

“He pulled the gun from my waistband. And put it to my head[...] He cocked it. Sounded like a door closing”.

That was an unexpected turn of events both for the reader and Will as no one expected that coming from his dad. That was the first time Will had a gun to his head, and it was the first time he was close to death, he was near the end. Moments later, Will father unlocks the gun and gives him a warm hug. Will got to see first hand the consequences of having a weapon and especially with him being a teen.

As it appears to be, there are no outermore and middle circle items remaining. However, some words are surrounding the central circle of the mandala, and those words are the three rules that are placed in Will’s neighborhood after somebody near a dear to their heart passes away. Those three rules are

“NO. 1: CRYING Don’t. No matter what. Don’t NO. 2: SNITCHING Don’t. No matter what. Don’t. NO. 3: REVENGE If someone you love gets killed, find the person who killed them and kill them”.

These words are intentionally placed around the items in the mandala as they are one of the main initiatives and influences for the actions of Will but also all the people Will met in the elevator died with some relation to the rules. Will has done his community “good” as he has followed the first two by not crying or snitching but has had his eyes on the main rule, revenge. Like stated previously, as he confronts all the people in the elevator, his mindset slightly changes, allowing another thought within his actions.

Finally, the last and biggest item in my mandala is a gold chain, but not just any gold chain. This chain belonged to the person Will looked up upon and had the closest relationship with, Shawn. The last stop and final person Will meets is his recently deceased brother, Shawn. A chain is the best representation of Shawn’s presence since he enters the elevator; he is wearing the clothes from when he was assassinated stained with blood. Nevertheless, the thing that stood out the most for Will was Shawn's gold chain that he always wore. Shawn enters the elevator but strangely does not acknowledge Will’s presence as he makes way to greet uncle Mark and his own Dad. Will attempts to hug Shawn and communicate, but no reaction is given, and no dialogue between them is shared. Will still in shock from the presence of his brother is fighting against the first rule as he is on the verge of bursting into tears. Despite that, Shawn tears up and begins crying and breaks the first rule, “tears pouring from his eyes tears pouring from his eyes” (298). From Shawn’s actions, he is representing that it is fine to break the rules, and sometimes they need to be broken for the right things to occur. After this, Will begins to cry, finally breaking the first rule that he was always wanting to break, and opens up on the idea that he might break the other rules, more specifically, revenge. Furthermore, Will finally opens up to his brother towards his feelings on the attack he was planning to take part on as he states,

“CONFESSED that I was scared, that I needed to know I was doing the right thing”.

They arrive at Will’s initial goal, the lobby and watch all the ghost leave, and it’s just them two. Shawn presents a question to Will, “YOU COMING?” as the only thing, he says to him (306). Will is left with the choice of following the rules like all the people in the elevator and end up dead or break the rules and live, thus, breaking the long-lasting cycle of crime and violence within his community. It is all up for Will to decide and for the reader to interpret as the book comes to an end.

Conclusion

References

1. Reynolds, J. (2017). Long way down. Simon and Schuster.
2. Samara, M., & Quagliata, A. (2019). Violence in young adult literature: Reading for the unspeakable. Routledge.
3. DiPiero, T. (2018). Urban literature for young adults: Push, long way down, and American street. ALAN Review, 45(2), 27-34.
4. Heinz, J. (2020). Representing violence in young adult literature: The example of Jason Reynolds’s Long Way Down. In Violence in contemporary American fiction (pp. 73-95). Springer.
5. Cianciolo, A. T. (2021). “But it’s still there, like a ghost”: The transformative power of connections in Jason Reynolds’s Long Way Down. Children’s Literature in Education, 1-17.
6. Middaugh, E. (2018). “It’s only 60 seconds, but it’s the longest ride of my life”: Complicating issues of masculinity and violence in Jason Reynolds’s Long Way Down. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 61(5), 567-575.