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“THE INVENTION OF THE RULES
ain’t come from my
brother,
his friends,
my dad,
my uncle,
the guys outside,
the hustlers and shooters,
and definitely not from
me.”
Section 30 (“The Invention of the Rules”) comes after Will has introduced The Rules for the first time, naming them as no crying, no snitching, and get revenge. Here, Will reflects on the fact that The Rules are inherited by everyone in his family and by all the men in their community. Though they must abide by The Rules, however, they are not agents of The Rules. They are subject to perpetrating the cycle of violence, almost as though they have no choice. The Rules, in this way, are self-perpetuating, passed down from father to father and brother to brother without any alterations or resistance. The fact that the Rules get passed down by people who didn’t author them or agree to live a life that requires them to abide them suggests how intractable the cycle of violence is in their community.
“But I didn’t cry. Didn’t snitch.
Knew exactly who killed Mark.
Knew I could get him.
The Rules.
Taught to me
by Mark.
Taught to him
by our pop.”
In section 192 ("When Mark Was Shot"), Will’s father describes his desolation after his brother was killed. He says that because he couldn’t be a brother, he struggles to be a daddy and a husband, illustrating that he is steeped in immense grief. However, instead of feeling his pain, releasing his feelings through tears, or going into his grief, he immediately describes moving toward revenge. Though Pops feels certain he knows who killed his brother, he is ultimately wrong, underscoring how blind adherence to The Rules can lead people astray and lead to the loss of innocent lives. In describing how The Rules have always been around, passed from father to son, Pops encapsulates the intergenerational trauma of upholding The Rules. Pops doesn’t question whether or not he should commit murder, but instead blindly follows the traditions of his family, perpetuating the cycle of violence, which ultimately ends his life.
“Shawn
turned back toward me,
eyes dull from death
but shining from tears,
finally spoke
to me.
Just two words,
like a joke
he’d been saving.
YOU COMING?”
This scene takes place in the final section of the novel, after all of the dead have exited the elevator and Will is on it alone, recovering from the intensity of his ride down. This moment, when Shawn finally speaks to Will, suggests the possibility that the cycle of violence may end. The fact that Shawn’s eyes are “dull from death” gestures towards the monumental cost of the violence Will and his brother and entire family have lived with for generations. But, this dullness is matched by the fact that they are also “shining from tears.” This illustrates that, in breaking The Rules and crying, expressing emotion instead of expressing violence, Shawn has created the possibility of a different path. He has found a way to put light in a place that was previously only filled with darkness. By inviting Will out of the elevator towards the unknown, Shawn seems to invite his brother to find his own path, one more in line with the wisdom of the dead and with the new possibilities that come from breaking The Rules.
