Interpretations of 'The Long Walk'

**fushingfeef** · March 24th, 2010

I always felt bad for Scramm. He did everything right to get ready, but then he got sick. Perhaps this is analagous to people who do everything right for their health (exercise, diet) but then they are randomly struck with a disease like cancer. This was one of King's first forays into "The Random", perhaps?

**Weihnachten** · March 24th, 2010

Originally Posted by Nutty Bavarian

The Long Walk was the very first book I ever read by SK and I haven't looked back since.

I wouldn't say the military, the U.S. military in particular since I'm a veteran, creates or makes us maniacs. Granted, people in the military do some crazy and violent things. However according to the FBI in 2008 there were 14,180 reported murders in the U.S. Now if you trust those numbers, that means there are at least that many people in the U.S. that committed these crimes. That's a lot of maniacs and I would feel pretty safe to say that not all of them were in the military. Now as far as the story is concerned I could see that argument as being possible. Here's the link I found these numbers on:

http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/cius2008/offe.../homicide.html

That being said, The Long Walk does make a valuable statement on modern American society in a very broad sense of what we see as important and how unproductive some of those endeavors truly are.

I'm sorry, I don't know that much about the military power in the U.S. If you live in a foreign country you always hear or read about the huge influence of the military. I think I'm not able to blame the military to create maniacs, but for me the Long Walk does.
But I don't think that the Long Walk is only about American society, it's about modern society in general.

**Homebrew** · April 21st, 2010

I think the fact that people are comparing a fictional horror writer to some deep philosophical icon like Nietzsche or Kant is f'ing hilarious. Really? You think these books are that deep.

Ok, well, I thought it was a good, entertaining read. I thought the ending was relatively obvious. I also think that for those of you that think The Long Walk is a metaphor for life, where 1 in a 100 people make it through only to die is depressing and tragic. It's not a metaphor for life. If it's a metaphor, it's one reserved for 100 pour souls locked in a concentration camp or some other equally sad situation. To prove my point, I'd assume out everyone posting on these boards, more than 1% are living a relatively happy life where they haven't buckled and had their brains blown out in the process. That being said, stop reading into this damn book so much and being a pretentious critic about it. It's the dark side of life if anything, and Garraty achieved his own insanity / death at the end of the story. Enough said.

**Pucker** · May 17th, 2010

Originally Posted by fushingfeef

I always felt bad for Scramm. He did everything right to get ready, but then he got sick. Perhaps this is analagous to people who do everything right for their health (exercise, diet) but then they are randomly struck with a disease like cancer. This was one of King's first forays into "The Random", perhaps?

I think Scramm went into the Walk honestly believing that he could, and would, win. I've always felt that this is not the case with most of the other walkers. They know what the most likely "reward" for their participation is and they willingly sign on regardless. Of course, the whole enterprise takes on a stark reality when the guns begin to shoot, as Kipling was wont to say. The chilling realization that death may not be better than an empty, hopeless life after all hits most of them like a sledgehammer once the first ticket is punched, and they see the reality of it. So they keep going. As long as they can. The ultimate joke, of course, is that nobody wins -- not this time . . . not ever -- and the implication, through rumor, that the walkers know even this, and yet still sign up for the Walk nonetheless paints a fairly stark portrait of what the author appears to be trying to convey.

**wally wonder** · May 17th, 2010

or maybe it's a twist on the nam...talk to someone who did their time in nam, in the green, where every step might be your last...ole salt marsh said that was the point of the deer hunter, the russian roulette, a loaded chamber, or not? one more step, or not? and though they didn't all sign up for it, that nasty business called the draft and all, every step they took either brought them closer to coming home...i dunno how many other members of the board are veterans, veterans being those who served, but it reminded me of boot camp, the way they all show up, ready, checking each other out, talkin.

**GNTLGNT** · May 18th, 2010

Long Walk=Life Journey(from a dark perspective)
Dark Figure=Dark Man(the erstwhile Randy Flagg)
Of course, all this may just be my perspective after suffering a case of the vapors...

**Pucker** · May 18th, 2010

I like your take about boot camp, Bluey. It got me to thinking about the abrupt disappearance of everything you knew before. When I was traveling to basic training outside Chicago, a bunch of us were all hanging out at the USO at O'Hare waiting for everyone in the incoming group to show up. It was exactly like the scene before the Walk started: A bunch of kids from all over the country, nervously sizing each other up and making quick associations and friendships, the way you do when you're young. The bus ride out to the NRTC was like a high-school field trip . . . and then you go through the gate . . . and everything changes in the space of a moment. They start screaming at you non-stop. Everything you do is wrong. Who you used to be doesn't matter now. You're becoming some else, starting right this second. I'm not sure if this was an analogy Mr. King was actively trying to make, but it works very well.

**wally wonder** · May 18th, 2010

Originally Posted by kidcharlemagne

I like your take about boot camp, Bluey. It got me to thinking about the abrupt disappearance of everything you knew before. When I was traveling to basic training outside Chicago, a bunch of us were all hanging out at the USO at O'Hare waiting for everyone in the incoming group to show up. It was exactly like the scene before the Walk started: A bunch of kids from all over the country, nervously sizing each other up and making quick associations and friendships, the way you do when you're young. The bus ride out to the NRTC was like a high-school field trip . . . and then you go through the gate . . . and everything changes in the space of a moment. They start screaming at you non-stop. Everything you do is wrong. Who you used to be doesn't matter now. You're becoming some else, starting right this second. I'm not sure if this was an analogy Mr. King was actively trying to make, but it works very well.

no kiddin! they rounded up a bunch of us from wisconsin and the u.p. and set us together....chief boats one-year...name ring a bell?....HA HA HA! my first night/day, i lost track, but that was the first time i fell asleep standing up, never did catch up...in fact, i feel a nap callin me. nut to butt!