51 pages • 1 hour read
Long Way Down
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Part 6Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Part 6: “3”
Part 6, Pages 237-252 Summary
A stranger gets on the elevator. He is pale with light brown hair, a big guy. At first Will is relieved, thinking he isn’t looking at another ghost. But then Buck starts talking to him. He calls him Frick and says he recognizes him. Frick recognizes Buck too. Will interrupts to figure out who this guy is. Buck responds, with a shrug, “This is the man who murdered me” (244). Will is shocked and confused. He doesn’t know the whole story. All he remembers is Buck, who was raised by his kind stepfather, a preacher, ended up taking after his biological father and robbing suburban homes. He remembers the day the police came to the house, asking Shawn if he knew anything about the man who shot Buck in the stomach.
Part 6, Pages 253-278 Summary
Buck tells the story of his death, with occasional interjections from Frick. He and Shawn were at the basketball court, talking. Shawn was upset because this guy Riggs had just come bragging about being in the Dark Suns and told Shawn to stay away. But Shawn needed to get soap for his mom from the store on that block. Will thinks, “A dumb thing to say / would’ve been to / tell Buck how important / that soap was / that it stopped Mom from / scraping loose a river / of wounds” (255). Buck gives Shawn a chain he stole that morning, and Shawn leaves. Frick arrives soon after, to rob Buck. It is part of his initiation into the Suns. But Buck throws a punch, scaring Frick, who fires the gun. Buck then explains that Shawn killed Frick—that Tony, Will’s best friend, told Shawn who did it. The one missing bullet from Shawn’s gun went into Frick’s chest. To everyone but Will, this story is seen as a joke.
Part 6 Analysis
As the book spirals toward its end, the legacy and cycles of violence surrounding the Holloman family become even more clear for Will. As Buck acknowledges the man who murdered him, Frick, and Will must consider how his own brother followed The Rules and contributed to his own death. The noncommittal recognition between Buck and Frick demonstrates the quick and ultimately blasé nature of their interaction. Though Frick killed Buck, he doesn’t remember Buck’s face. This killing was just one of many deaths witnessed.
The symbol of Will’s mother and the soap is also illuminated most clearly in this chapter. Will says, “A dumb thing to say / would’ve been to / tell Buck how important / that soap was / that it stopped Mom from / scraping loose a river / of wounds” (255). Will acknowledges the many pains his mother has experienced trying to raise sons in a neighborhood where boys die every single day. The eczema represents a much deeper ache: Though she scratches and scratches, trying to alleviate her grief and worry, there is no cure. Shawn, who tried to be a good son, was still killed. Will, her only remaining son, might be next.
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