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Motifs are recurring structures, contrasts, and literary devices that can help to develop and inform the text's major themes.
The Rules
The Rules are a motif throughout the novel, representing the social and familial duty that guides the men in Will’s community. The first of The Rules demands that men suppress their emotions, barring them from having a healthy outlet for the pain, anger, sadness, and grief that are the natural consequences of the difficult life in their neighborhood. When tears are taboo, these emotions must find another expression. For example, when Will describes not crying when he wants to, he says it feels like being punched and kicked from the inside. When he holds back tears for the first time, he wants to tear his skin off. These violent depictions illustrate how suppressing the natural expression of emotion causes Will tremendous pain and confusion.
The Rule not to snitch also prevents the community from seeking help from authorities. While this is likely an act of self-preservation, as the cops have not been proven trustworthy, it also means that the community is without a protective civic force. This leads to the third Rule, which requires circumventing the law to seek justice meaning anyone who loses a loved one to murder must seek their own reconciliation through revenge. Together, the Rules leave the men of the community emotionally trapped, without support, and stuck in cycles of endless violence.
Anagrams
Anagrams are a motif in Will’s making sense of the world, representing the way he uses language play to get at truths that are otherwise elusive to him. Throughout the novel, Will relies on anagrams in moments when reality itself is hard to face. For example, when he encounters the first dead person, Buck, he offers the anagram ALIVE = A VEIL. In just 10 letters, this powerful anagram conveys that Will is understanding the relationship between life and death in new ways, that death is much closer to life than he previously imagined. By invoking a thin veil, Will communicates that there isn’t as much of a difference between life and death as he previously thought. In another anagram, Will says CARES = SCARE, illustrating how frightening it is to love in a world in which everyone, from his father, to the girl he kissed as a kid, to his beloved brother, can be taken from him in a heartbeat.
The Dead
The dead visit Will during his long elevator ride, representing the haunting grip of violence and grief, along with the wisdom and peace that come from a place beyond everyday life. Each of the dead who visit Will teach him something that is otherwise elusive to him. Buck, his Uncle Mark, and Pops all work to show Will that he doesn’t have what it takes to commit the violence he plans. Though Will takes this as an affront, they are, in their own ways, seeking to protect Will’s innocence and his life itself. Dani helps Will understand that he’s targeting the wrong person and to question the assumptions that he takes for facts. Ironically, she also helps him get more in touch with a sense of being alive, as it is only through his interactions with Dani that Will experiences sweetness and pleasure on the elevator.
Pops and Shawn both, in their own ways, call into question the sanctity and wisdom of The Rules. Pops shares his own grievous errors to show Will how badly revenge can go wrong. Shawn, in a powerful display of emotion, weeps and moans, conveying his pain and regret before ever speaking a word to Will. Taken together, the dead teach Will about how much he has at stake, about their own foolishness and regrets, and give hope that, for Will, something else is possible.
