Long Way Down Characters

The 15-year-old protagonist and narrator of the novel—the story is told through poems in Will’s voice. Will is sensitive, perceptive, and loves language,—but he also desperately wants to grow up and be a man like… read analysis of William (Will) Holloman

Will’s older brother. Shawn is about 19 or 20 at the time of his death in a gang-related incident the day before the novel begins. Will idolizes Shawn, as he was Will’s only brother… read analysis of Shawn Holloman

Buck was Shawn’s mentor after Pop died. He’s tall and slim, has no facial hair, and wears gold chains around his neck. When Will meets Buck’s ghost in the elevator, Buck is wearing… read analysis of Buck

Will and Shawn’s father who died when Will was three years old and Shawn was seven. In life, Pop was a romantic and a jokester, though he started out life as an extremely uncool… read analysis of Pop

Uncle Mark was Will and Shawn’s uncle and Pop’s brother, who died sometime when Will was a toddler. As Pop’s older brother, Uncle Mark was the one to pass on “the Rules” of… read analysis of Uncle Mark

Shawn’s former friend, who Will thinks murdered Shawn. Will believes this because Riggs recently moved and joined a rival gang, the Dark Suns, and Shawn was killed in Dark Suns territory while on an… read analysis of Carlson Riggs

Dani was Will’s childhood best friend until she was accidentally killed at eight years old in a revenge shooting gone wrong. The ghost of Dani gets on the elevator with Will on the sixth… read analysis of Dani

Frick was shot and killed by Shawn in retaliation for Frick killing Buck. And, if Will’s assumptions are correct, Frick may be the man whom Carlson Riggs was avenging by killing Shawn—though there’s… read analysis of Frick

One of Will’s best friends. Tony is a great basketball player despite being very short. Because of this, he practices his jumps and hopes that his growth spurt will come soon. Tony spends much… read analysis of Tony