The Long Walk is the second novel written by Stephen King under the psuedonym of Richard Bachman. Much like another novel of Bachman's, The Running Man, it deals with a contest in which the losers die.
Plot Summary
Every year on May 1st, a competition called the Long Walk starts. During this contest, one hundred competitors walk as far as possible without stopping. If a walker gets three warnings for walking too slow or interfering with another walker, he is shot and killed. The winner is the last competitor remaining alive.
The main character of this novel is Ray Garraty. He represents the state of Maine as its only competitor in the Long Walk. As the novel progresses, he begins to realize he stands almost no chance of winning the competition, especially because he is always so willing to save his fellow walkers from stopping. He is also faced with the threat of a boy named Stebbins, who is the son of the Major, the man in charge of the Walk.
In the end, only two walkers are left -- Garraty and Stebbins. After suffering a stroke, Stebbins falls to the ground and dies. This makes Garraty the winner. As the Major comes to congratulate Garraty, however, he has lost all traces of sanity and begins to run down the road he has walked for so long.
Main Characters
- Raymond Garraty, a competitor from Maine
- Peter McVries, a young man who has taken the challenge as a means of suicide
- Henry Olson, a competitor who cuts himself off from all other walkers
- Art Baker, a close friend of Garraty and McVries
- Gary Barkovitch, an unpleasant walker who forces himself to keep walking to watch his competition die
- Stebbins, the son of the Major