Cathy Scramm is a minor character in Stephen King's novella The Long Walk, which is part of the collection Four Past Midnight. She is the wife of Scramm, one of the competitors of The Long Walk, a grueling 450-mile marathon walk that is the country's #1 sports contest in a dystopian America. She is pregnant and suffers from cancer, and Scramm hopes to win the prize of anything he wants for the rest of his life to save her and their unborn child.
Biography[]
Cathy Scramm is married to Scramm, a big and strong man who is one of the 100 boys who participate in The Long Walk, an annual event where the contestants have to walk at a steady pace of four miles per hour without stopping. The walk is a brutal and deadly competition, where anyone who slows down, stops, or interferes with the walk receives a warning. Three warnings and the walker is shot by the soldiers who follow them in half-tracks. The last walker alive wins the prize of anything he wants for the rest of his life.
Cathy is pregnant with Scramm's child, but she also has cancer, which is terminal. Scramm loves her dearly and decides to enter the walk to win the prize and save her and their baby. He believes that he has a good chance of winning, as he is physically fit and mentally tough. He also has a lot of friends and supporters among the other walkers, who respect him and his motivation.
However, Scramm's fate is sealed when he suffers a heart attack during the walk, which is caused by the stress and exhaustion of the competition. He collapses and dies, leaving Cathy and their child without a husband and a father. His death is mourned by the other walkers, especially Ray Garraty, the protagonist of the story, who was close to Scramm and admired him. Cathy's fate is unknown, but it is implied that she and her child also die soon after Scramm's death¹.
Trivia[]
- Cathy Scramm is one of the many characters in Stephen King's books who suffer from cancer, along with John Coffey, Sadie Dunhill, Eddie Kaspbrak, and Larry Underwood.
- Cathy Scramm is also the name of a real person who is a friend of Stephen King and his wife Tabitha. She is thanked in the acknowledgments of King's novel 11/22/63.