The Long Walk !?!?!?! what a end???

[CrazyRalph]

I didn't like the ending at first, I wanted a happy ending to this one. I think he died in the end.

[IstillInsistIseeTheGhosts]

This is among my favorites of King's and I thought the end was amazing...We're not supposed to know what happens to Garatty after the walk...I always assumed in my mind that he kept running for his lost friends and ended up with them in the end because of his body's weakened state..that's just me though

[dwalters]

The first time I read it I was really disappointed that it ended the way it did, but it being a Bachman story I should have seen some kind of tragic end coming. On subsequent read-throughs I've come to appreciate it more and more though. It's that final nail in the coffin when the mind just completely snaps. Bravo I say.

[MyLife4YouSK]

I always thought that at the end, the shadowy figure symbolized death. And Garraty dies. Also, when he "found the strength to run" he no longer had any fatigue or pain.

I thought the same thing the first time i read it Course I didn't WANT it to be death., but...it could have been. The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon ends sort of the same way., when Trisha closes her eyes at the end it could mean that she dies., again I choose NOT to believe that after the hell she went thru., much like Garraty. On the 2nd read, I think he went crazy at the end., hell wouldn't you ? I know I would IF i survived that is. lol

I hope Frank Darabont makes this into a movie, we can't let this die! Go Go Darabont! Stephen King's own (best) director.

[kenobi]

I really believe we need Mr. King's input, on this ending, because it blew me away also. What a great story, but i was a little disappointed, with the ending. I little more information would be nice. A better explanation maybe.

[Pucker]

I really believe we need Mr. King's input, on this ending, because it blew me away also. What a great story, but i was a little disappointed, with the ending. I little more information would be nice. A better explanation maybe.

Ahhh . . . but kenobi, we already have Mr. King's input, and as if often his wont, he has left it up to us. I've always believed that Garraty's body survived the Long Walk, but his mind did not. It seems to me that almost all of the walkers realize going in that they don't stand much chance of winning, and given the brief glimpses we're given of society as it is in the story, the Long Walk is just an intricate and guiltless form of suicide for these boys; the joke being that the slug in the head (or elsewhere, if you're really unlucky) is the actual "prize," and that the only boy who doesn't "win" is the one who outlasts all the others. The consolations "prize," of course, is insanity -- so that no matter what happens, all the boys get what they really want -- which is a way out.

Either that, or I am entirely wrong.

[A Guest from Roanoke]

Oh c'mon folks ... you didn't really think SK would tie the ending all up with a nice pink ribbon on it for us to treasure did ya? I think he leaves it up to the individual reader but makes sure that one thing is clear -It wasn't a happy ending! I think he lost his sanity in the end ...

[kalebpittman]

I believe that maybe Stephen was trying to point out that in the end of such a battle, that there is no winner. After so many of Ray's friends lost their lives, along with all of the others, there could never be a clear winner. Even if Garraty won, and all the others left to rot, how would Garraty live with that? The fact that he had just beat 99 others from death, only to come out for one wish with no friends, no good memories, nothing but one wish which could not bring even a single person from the walk back, proving that in the end there is no clear winner.

[davetoronto]

The Prize states that you can have whatever you want, for the rest of your life.

I believe that "the rest of his life" was about 30 seconds or so.

[Mattman1]

I agree 100% with you on that.