The Long Walk

The Long Walk is the seventh book published by Stephen King; it is his sixth novel, and the second written under the pseudonym of Richard Bachman. It was first published in July 1979 and collected in the 1985 anthology, The Bachman Books.

First edition cover of The Long Walk.

Plot Summary

In an alternate United States (references to "April 31st", "fifty-one" states, "Popular Mechanix", and "the German air-blitz of the American East Coast" are made), there has been an apparent military takeover of the country, turning it into a totalitarian dystopia. A man only known as "The Major" seems to be the leading figure of the country. Every year on May 1, a competition called the Long Walk begins. During this contest, one hundred teenage boys, picked at random from a large pool of applicants, walk as far as possible without stopping at a minimum pace of four miles per hour. The walk never stops for any reason, including bad weather (it is commented by Stebbins "It stops every year. Once."). The walkers are allowed to bring anything with them, including food, although food concentrates are handed out once a day. Once the walk starts, no outside help from the crowd is allowed, although walkers may help each other provided they stay above four miles per hour. The route starts at the border of Canada and Maine and ends where the last walker remains standing.

Each walker has a timer initially set to 120 seconds. If their speed in the correct direction drops below four miles per hour, their timer counts down. They are given warnings when their timer reaches 90 (first warning), 60 (second warning), and 30 (third warning), then a "ticket" at 0. Each walker's timer is maintained by a computer on the halftrack, which drives alongside the walkers. The speed of the walkers is measured to the fourth decimal point by toy-sized radar dishes mounted on the front and back of the halftrack. A walker's timer can be displayed to a soldier on a stainless-steel pocket chronometer, so they know when to issue a ticket. Warnings can also be given to walkers who try to impede the progress of other walkers or walk in the opposite direction. These "penalty" warnings cause the walker's timer to instantly drop to the warning thresholds of 90, 60, 30, for first, second or third warning, or ticket at 0. A walker can undo a warning if he walks for an hour without receiving a fresh warning. Undoing a warning means their timer resets back to 60, 90, or 120, for second, first or no warnings. The meaning of being ticketed is not given at the beginning of the book, but it is soon made clear after the walk begins that "buying a ticket" means being shot by one or more soldiers with army-type heavy-caliber carbine rifles with gas-tipped slugs. Certain serious violations, such as leaving the road for any reason or attacking a soldier or halftrack, result in immediate ticketing. The last competitor remaining alive is the winner, and he receives "The Prize": whatever he wants for the rest of his life, plus a large sum of money, the amount of which is not specified.

The general public can also be warned or receive an interference ticket for disrupting the walk or trying to help the walkers. One of the mothers of the walkers tries to take her son out of the walk multiple times, and would have been shot by the soldiers if local police hadn't intervened. Another man manages to give watermelon to the walkers and is arrested. Although his fate is unknown after he was arrested, his execution or imprisonment would be a plausible theory.

The Long Walk is shown to be a mental and physical trial, as contestants are faced with the ideas of their own death. Being ticketed is often result of insanity and complete mental breakdowns; one walker eventually tears his own throat out due to emotional stress from the surrounding situation.

The main character of this novel is Ray Garraty, a sixteen-year-old boy from Maine. He represents the state of Maine as its only competitor in the Long Walk, and often sees signs held by the crowd saying "Maine's Own" and "Go-Go Garraty". Garraty had only seen one long walk in his life, where he was reluctantly taken by his father, a man who hated the competition with a passion. Because Garraty's father was so vocal in his hate for the long walk, he was "squaded." Although the definition of the word is never given in the story, "squaded" is implied to mean "taken away by soldiers and eventually executed." Garraty falls in with several boys during the course of the walk, including Peter McVries, who he becomes closest to, Art Baker, Hank Olson, Collie Parker, Pearson, Harkness, and Abraham. Gary Barkovitch, another walker, establishes himself as a main antagonist, taunting the other walkers with threats of "dancing on their graves." Stebbins, another walker, establishes himself as the loner of the group, often walking towards the back of the group and only speaking to Garraty in short, cryptic phrases.

Along the road, the Walkers learn that one of their number, an older kid named Scramm—who is initially the heavy odds-on favorite to win the Walk—is married. When Scramm gets pneumonia and realizes that he will soon die, the remaining Walkers agree that the winner will use some of the Prize to take care of his pregnant widow, Cathy.

After five days, the walk comes down to Garraty and Stebbins, who has just admitted to being the bastard son of the Major. After walking for almost an entire day more, Garraty, decides that he cannot walk any more and accepts his fate. He walks up to Stebbins to tell him that he is about to give up, when Stebbins claws desperately at Garraty's shirt and screams "Oh Garraty!" before dying. Unaware of the celebration going on all around him, Garraty walks towards a dark figure in front of him, trying to identify it. When the major puts his hand on Garraty's shoulder to congratulate him, Garraty "somehow finds the strength to run." 

Major Characters

• Raymond Garraty – A sixteen year old boy from Maine. He is the only competitor from the state of Maine, where the long walk is held, and is shown huge amounts of support from the crowd. During the walk, Garraty makes many revelations about mortality, and the imminent possibility of his own death. Garraty bonds with many of the competitors over the course of the long walk, including the enigmatic Stebbins. Garraty eventually becomes the winner of the walk after Stebbins's death. When the major comes to congratulate him, Garraty somehow finds the strength to run.
• Peter McVries – A young, cynical man with a sardonic sense of humor, and a prominent scar on his cheek. Of all the walkers, he bonds the closest with Garraty and saves his life multiple times. He also creates the idea for the " eight musketeers," a group made up of himself, Garraty, Baker, Olson, Harkness, Abraham, and Pearson. McVries admits during the walk that he applied for the walk due to subconscious death left from a broken relationship that left him in a suicidal depression. He also develops the most antagonistic relationship with Gary Barkovich. He tells Garraty that when he is done walking, he may just sit down. Near the end of the walk, he sits down in the street. Although Garraty tries desperately to save him, McVries refuses to budge, and he smiles one last time at Garraty before being killed by the soldiers.
• Art Baker - A close friend of Garraty and McVries who is shown to be one of the kindest and honest competitors in the walk, and the least prone to speaking cryptically. He is one of the last walkers to die. When he decides that he can't go on, he asks Garraty for a lead-lined casket, a reference to a past conversation about Baker's uncle, an undertaker. He also asks Garraty "not to watch 'em do it." Baker's death affects Garraty so much that he can barely keep walking.
• Hank Olson - A confident young walker who believes he has an edge on the other walkers. Olson starts out the walk cracking jokes and playfully insulting the other walkers, but quickly exhausts and turns into an empty shell. He is referred to by Stebbins as a demonstration of the mind to control the body, because although Olson is nearly dead, the mind commands him to keep walking to avoid death. Olson manages to outlast the majority of the walkers, because, as he admits to Garraty, "he does not want to die." He eventually rushes the halftrack, climbing aboard and seizing a gun from a sleeping soldier, shooting another one. After being shot in the stomach, with his inner organs falling out, he continues to walk, much to the surprise of the other walkers. Finally, he succumbs, after screaming, "I DID IT WRONG!" and is finished off by several soldiers.
• Gary Barkovitch - The established external antagonist who every other walker wishes to outlast, and seems to be "running on high-octane hate." He teases the walkers with multiple threats of "dancing on their graves." Barkovitch antagonizes another walker named Rank, who attacks him, sparking an altercation resulting in Rank's death. The incident prompts the other walkers to think of him as a murderer, especially McVries. Despite his belligerence, Barkovitch later admits he wishes he had friends and that he didn't know how to act any other way. Some point during the night, the walkers hear shots. When Garraty asks if Barkovich has been shot, Barkovitch screams "Not Yet!" and tears his own throat out.
• Stebbins - The illegitimate son of the Major, and the most mysterious walker. He has many strange habits, including giving Garraty odd advice and then recanting the advice as lies. Stebbins becomes the favorite to win after Scramm's death, showing himself to be impossible to wear down. Near the end of the book, however, he breaks down in front of Garraty and admits to being the son of the Major—one of many. He tells Garraty that the major deliberately distanced him psychologically to make him a "rabbit" (like one that would be found in a greyhound race) to provoke other walkers into catching him. He is the last walker to die, clawing desperately at Garraty before collapsing.

Death list

The asterisk (*) indicates that the Walkers were mentioned dead at the same time, meaning that there is no way to determine exact order. (Most "Reasons of Death" indicated with a "?" resulted from a Walker dropping below four miles-per-hour too often.)

Order	Name	Number	Reason for Death
1.	Curley, ?	No. 7	Charley horse
2.	Ewing, ?	No. 9	Blisters.  Hint 3: Do not, repeat, do not wear sneakers. Nothing will give you blisters faster than sneakers on a Long Walk.  He was wearing P.F. Flyers.
3.	Unknown boy	No. ?	Slowed down too often
4.	Zuck, ?	No. 100	Excessive bleeding from open cut on knee
5.	Travin, ?	No. ?	Slowed by diarrhea. He half-squatted, half-fell, and the soldiers shot him with his pants down
6.	Fenter, ?	No. 12	Foot cramp
7.	Larson, ?	No. 60	Fatigue - sat down and couldn't get back up
8.	Unknown boy	No. ?	Excerpt: Up ahead someone uttered a high, gobbling scream, and then the rifles crashed in unison.
9.	Toland, ?	No. ?	Fainted
10.	Unknown boy	No. ?	Excerpt: A few minutes later the guns rammed their steel-death sound into the night. / it was a boy named Quincy or Quentin or something like that.
11.	Unknown boy	No. ?	Excerpt: Two more Walkers had bought it since the boy in the football jersey.
12.	Unknown boy	No. ?	See above
13.	Baker, James	No. 4	?
14.	Rank, ?	No. ?	Violated Rule 8 "No interference with your fellow Walkers" when he attempted to attack Barkovitch 3 times. He got 3 warnings, fell on the 3rd attack, feeling dazed and woozy. While attempting to stand up, he slipped and fell onto his back, and bought his ticket.
15.	Unknown boy	No. ?	Excerpt: The guns crashed in the darkness, and there was the unmistakable mailsack thud of a body falling on the concrete.
16.	Unknown boy	No. ?	Shot while trying to escape into the woods. This ticket is very similar to Percy's Ticket #32. Both are young boys, and both try to escape into the woods. The book does not indicate this boy's name.
17.	Unknown boy	No. 45	Fell down multiple times from exhaustion
*18.	Unknown boy	No. ?	Excerpt: Seven more had gotten tickets since the boy in the trenchcoat. At one time, around two in the morning, three had gone down almost together
*19.	Unknown boy	No. ?	See above
*20.	Unknown boy	No. ?	See above
*21.	Unknown boy	No. ?	See above
*22.	Unknown boy	No. ?	See above
*23.	Unknown boy	No. ?	See above
*24.	Unknown boy	No. ?	See above
*25.	Davidson, ?	No. 8	?
26.	Unknown boy	No. ?	Excerpt: Someone else was shot down ... behind him, this time. The aim was bad, and the unlucky ticket-holder screamed hoarsely for what seemed a very long time before another bullet cut off the sound.
27.	Unknown boy	No. ?	Excerpt: The guns roared once more before the last of the night was finally banished, but Garraty barely heard.
28.	Yannick, ?	No. 98	?
29.	Unknown boy	No. ?	Convulsions
30.	Gribble, ?	No. 48	Pearson said he had Blue balls, but Gribble himself said it was a cramp. Gribble held his crotch and lower-belly, then dropped to his knees, after attempting sex with a girl spectator. In his words there "Wasn’t enough time"
31.	Harkness, ?	No. 49	Fatigue- "Burnt out"
32.	?, Percy	No. 31	Shot while trying to escape into the woods. His last name is often given as What’s-His-Name. Similar to ticket #16 because both are young boys, and both try to escape into the wood.
33.	Unknown boy	No. ?	Excerpt: Up ahead, the guns cracked out their single word. A body spun, flipped over, and lay still.
34.	Unknown boy	No. ?	Excerpt: At that moment the rifles went again.
*35.	Wayne, ?	No. 94	Excerpt: Two more of them had gone down between eight-thirty and nine; one of them had been the Wayne that the gas jockey had been cheering for a ways back
*36.	Unknown boy	No. ?	See above
37.	Morgan, Frank	No. 64	?
38.	Unknown boy	No. ?	Excerpt: the guns roared again
39.	Unknown boy	No. 38	Feet run over by escorting half-track.
40.	Unknown boy	No. ?	Excerpt: The guns roared behind them.
*41.	Tressler, ?	No. 92	Sunstroke
*42.	Unknown boy	No. ?	Convulsion
*43.	Aaronson, ?	No. 1	Cramps in both feet
*44.	Wallace	No. ?	Sunstroke
45.	Unknown boy	No. ?	Excerpt: The guns roared again and another figure collapsed gracelessly, like a tired jack-in-the-box.
46.	Unknown boy	No. ?	Excerpt: The boy in the green silk vest had bought a ticket
47.	Unknown boy	No. ?	Excerpt: The guns cracked
48.	Jensen, ?	No. ?	Panic & blundered off of road due to hailstorm
49.	Unknown boy	No. ?	Fainted
50.	Fenum, Roger	No. 13	Fainted
51.	Unknown boy	No. ?	Excerpt: The first gunshots rang out. There was a loud, yipping scream that was drowned by more gunshots.
52.	Unknown boy	No. ?	Excerpt: And at the brow of the hill they got one more.
53.	Olson, Hank	No. 70	Shot while attempting to hijack escorting half-track
54.	Unknown boy	No. ?	Excerpt: The guns again, startling him awake, and there was the familiar mailsack thud of another boy going home to Jesus.
55.	Unknown boy	No. ?	Excerpt: They fired in neat unison, and the small, nearly portly figure was thrown across two lanes like a limp laundry sack.
56.	Unknown boy	No. ?	Excerpt: The soldiers had made only two kills
57.	Unknown boy	No. ?	See above
58.	Unknown boy	No. ?	Excerpt: another boy got his ticket
*59.	Scramm, ?	No. 85	Pneumonia/sat down with Mike. The order they were shot is not clear.
*60.	?, Mike	No. ?	Stomach cramps/sat down with Scramm
61.	?, Joe	No. ?	?
62.	Unknown boy	No. ?	Excerpt: As if on cue, the guns roared.
63.	Gallant, ?	No. ?	?
64.	Milligan, ?	No. ?	Severe headache from cheering
65.	Unknown boy	No. ?	Excerpt: All at once the guns roared, and there were two of them falling down dead at once
66.	Unknown boy	No. ?	See above
67.	Quince, Harold	No. ?	?
68.	Barkovitch, Gary	No. 5	Ripped out his own throat
*69.	Unknown boy	No. ?	Excerpt: "Yeah. How many got it last night, McVries?" "Six." / "Six since Barkovitch." / "Pearson bought it."
*70.	Unknown boy	No. ?	See above
*71.	Unknown boy	No. ?	See above
*72.	Unknown boy	No. ?	See above
*73.	Unknown boy	No. ?	See above
*74.	Pearson, ?	No. ?	See above. Vomiting; One of six shot that night. The order is not clear.
75.	Field, Charlie	No. ?	?
76.	Unknown boy	No. ?	Excerpt: Garraty began to speak, and then the gunshots silenced him.
*77.	Klingerman, ?	No. 59	Appendicitis  Excerpt: Only three had gone down since they left Freeport. One of them had been the unfortunate Klingerman. The order is not clear.
*78.	Unknown boy	No. ?	See above
*79.	Unknown boy	No. ?	See above
80.	Tubbins, ?	No. 93	Insanity - Tubbins number is not specified, but we can assume 93 because his surname falls alphabetically between Tressler #92 and Wayne #94. Garraty notices 93 on day 1, but doesn't learn his name until he goes insane on day 4.
81.	Unknown boy	No. ?	Exerpt: By six that evening, only one more had gotten a ticket.
82.	Parker, Collie	No. ?	Shot after attempting to hijack escorting half-track
83.	Wyman, Marty	No. 97	Lay down
84.	Sledge, Bobby	No. ?	Tried to escape into the crowd
85.	Unknown boy	No. ?	Excerpt: The guns were shooting again / someone else was dead, facedown in the rain.
86.	Unknown boy	No. ?	Excerpt: One more bought out before three o'clock
*87.	Unknown boy	No. ?	Excerpt: Just before dawn, three of them went down at once.
*88.	Unknown boy	No. ?	See above
*89.	Unknown boy	No. ?	See above
*90.	Unknown boy	No. ?	Ticket 90 and 93 are not in the book. There are only 97 tickets. This is a mistake in the book.
91.	Abraham, ?	No. 2	Fever-induced fatigue
92.	Pastor, Bruce	No. ?	?
93.	Unknown boy	No. ?	Ticket 90 and 93 are not in the book. There are only 97 tickets. This is a mistake in the book.
94.	Fielder, George	No. ?	Insanity
95.	Hough, Bill	No. ?	?
96.	Rattigan, ?	No. ?	?
97.	Baker, Art	No. 3	Hemorrhage
98.	McVries, Peter	No. 61	Sat Down
99.	Stebbins ?	No. 88	Sudden death due to fatigue
100.	Garraty, Ray	No. 47	Winner; possible insanity or death,

Hints and Procedures

All Walkers receive a handbook of sorts that included "hints" and "rules", and several are featured prominently in the novel:

• Hint 3: Do not, repeat, do not wear sneakers. Nothing will give you blisters faster than sneakers on a Long Walk.
• Hint 6: Slow and easy does it.
• Rule 8: No interference with your fellow Walkers.
• Hint 10: Save your wind. If you smoke ordinarily, try not to smoke on the Long Walk.
• Hint 12: (not stated specifically, but recommends wearing white athletic socks)
• Hint 13: Conserve energy whenever possible.

Each year, thousands of teenage boys apply to take part in the Long Walk. Applicants are put through a series of tests, including an essay in which they explain why they believe themselves qualified to participate. Those who pass are entered into a lottery drawing that is broadcast nationwide on television, well before the Walk begins. Two hundred names are drawn, with 100 classified as "Prime Walkers" (first picks to participate) and 100 as backups; however, no announcements are made at this time as to which is which.

There are several chances to withdraw from the process, spread out between the time that applicants learn whether they have passed the tests and the start of the Walk. If someone does withdraw, the first available backup Walker (based on the order in which names were drawn) is moved up to take his place. Notifications as to Prime or backup status are not sent out until the final withdrawal deadline, which is the day before the Walk begins.

On the morning of May 1, the Walkers gather at the starting point, where soldiers check them in and give them canteens and food supplies. The Major greets them and assigns each one a number from 1 to 100 in alphabetical order by last name; each Walker is given a placard with his number, which he must wear taped to his clothes. The soldiers refer to Walkers only by their numbers throughout the course of the event. At exactly 9:00, the Major signals for the Walk to start.

Trivia

• While not the first of King's novels to be published, The Long Walk was the first novel he wrote, having begun it in 1966–67 during his freshman year at the University of Maine some eight years before his first published novel Carrie was released in 1974.
• Chronologically The Long Walk, is the first novel by Stephen King and the second would be Carrie.
• Based on details in the book, the most likely starting point for the Long Walk is Hamlin, Maine.
  • In the novel, the Walk travels mainly along U.S. Route 1 in the State of Maine; south from the U.S. - Canadian border. The route travels through Limestone, Caribou, Jefferson (marking the 100-mile point), Old Town, Augusta, Lewiston, Porterville, Freeport (the closest city to Garraty's hometown of Pownal), Portland and South Portland, Kittery, across New Hampshire, and ending in Danvers, Massachusetts. The novel ends after 360 miles .

Adaptation

Frank Darabont has secured the rights to the film adaptation of the novel (1), claiming that he will "get to it one day". He currently plans to make a low-budget, "weird, existential, and very self contained" film (2).

In April 2018, it was announced that New Line Cinema would develop a film adaptation of the novel. Frank Darabont's rights to the film had lapsed, and filmmaker James Vanderbilt stepped in to write and produce the film with Bradley Fischer and William Sherak of the Mythology Entertainment production company. On May 21, 2019, New Line announced that Norwegian film director André Øvredal (Trollhunter, The Autopsy of Jane Doe) would direct the adaptation.

Audiobook

The audiobook version of The Long Walk is read by Kirby Heyborne.