The Long Walk – Stephen King (1978)

The Long Walk by Richard Bachman (a pseudonym for Stephen King) was published in 1979. Set in a dystopian future, it follows a brutal endurance contest where 100 teenage boys must continuously walk without stopping – or face death. As they push forward, exhaustion, desperation, and psychological warfare take hold, transforming the competition into a harrowing battle of will and survival.

Plot Summary

The road stretches endlessly ahead, black asphalt cutting through the wilds of Maine. A hundred boys stand at the starting line, hearts pounding, nerves frayed. Among them is Ray Garraty, a sixteen-year-old from Pownal, Maine. The rules are simple – walk without stopping, keep above four miles per hour, and never fall behind. Three warnings are given before the fourth results in a ticket. A ticket means death. The Walkers are surrounded by an unseen audience – the nation watches them, bets are placed, favorites are chosen. The Major, the enforcer of the game, stands before them, his sunglasses hiding the expression in his eyes. With a drop of his hand, the Long Walk begins.

The first miles pass in easy strides. Excitement thrums in the air, a nervous energy as the boys find their paces, settle into rhythms. Garraty befriends a few of the others – Peter McVries, lean and scarred, who carries an air of quiet rebellion; Art Baker, easygoing and calm; Hank Olson, cocky and confident, certain he will outlast them all. Others remain distant or hostile, like Gary Barkovitch, who snarls and taunts the others, and Stebbins, a solitary figure at the back of the pack, shrouded in mystery.

The first shot rings out within the hour. A boy who froze at the starting line is the first to fall, his body crumpling like a marionette with its strings cut. There is a collective intake of breath, a sharp awareness that this is real. There will be no mercy, no reprieves. Garraty pushes forward, unwilling to dwell on the sight of the motionless body being dragged away.

The miles pass. The boys talk to distract themselves from the burning ache in their legs, the growing stiffness in their joints. Some share stories, others keep to themselves. The road takes them through small towns where people gather, cheering and waving signs. Some Walkers revel in the attention, soaking in the adoration of the crowd. Others, like Garraty, feel the weight of their gaze, the hollowness of their support. These people are here for spectacle, not sympathy.

As exhaustion creeps in, the first real struggles begin. Olson, so full of bravado at the start, starts to fade. His steps falter, his jokes turn brittle. Garraty watches as Olson’s knees buckle, as he struggles to regain his stride. The warnings come fast, ticking away like a countdown. The third warning is given, and Olson, with one last desperate push, tries to force his legs to keep moving. They do not obey. The fourth warning comes. The rifles crack, and Olson is gone.

Fear tightens its grip on the remaining Walkers. Some begin to break down, crying, pleading for rest. The guns do not discriminate. One by one, boys fall. Some collapse from exhaustion, their bodies giving in before their minds can protest. Others stumble too many times, unable to regain their footing. A few resist, trying to fight the inevitable. It never ends well. The halftrack follows, unfeeling, methodical, removing the bodies as if sweeping away debris.

Storm clouds gather in the distance. The sky darkens, the wind picks up. Rain lashes against their faces, soaking them to the bone. The road becomes slick, treacherous. A boy named Ewing, his feet ruined by blisters, slips and loses his pace. His warnings have already stacked up. There is no time to recover. The soldiers handle him swiftly, efficiently. The rain washes his blood into the cracks of the pavement, carrying it away as if he had never been there.

The Walkers press on through the night. Some mutter to themselves, others stare blankly ahead, lost in their own minds. Sleep is an impossible luxury. The body begs for rest, but stopping means death. Garraty’s mind wanders, slipping between reality and delirium. He thinks of home, of his mother, of Jan – the girl he left behind. He pictures her watching him, waiting for him to return. The thought keeps him upright, keeps him moving.

Dawn comes, but it brings no relief. More boys drop, their bodies littering the roadside like discarded dolls. Barkovitch, once so eager to antagonize, is unraveling. His defiance turns to paranoia, his swagger to desperation. When his time comes, he does not go quietly. He screams at the soldiers, curses the others, tries to run. The bullets cut him down mid-stride. He twitches on the road, his face frozen in rage.

McVries staggers beside Garraty, his strength waning. His sarcasm has dulled, his energy sapped. He tells Garraty he does not want to win anymore. He does not want anything at all. His steps slow, his body tilts forward. He does not resist as the warnings come. He turns his head slightly, gives Garraty a weary smile. The fourth warning is issued. He never reaches the fifth step.

There are only a handful left now. Stebbins, always at the back, is still there, still walking. He reveals what none of the others had known – he is the Major’s illegitimate son. He believed this gave him an edge, a secret advantage. But as his legs begin to falter, he realizes the truth. There is no favoritism, no exception. The rules do not change for him. His body betrays him, his limbs giving out, his breath ragged. He stumbles, falls to his knees. He tries to rise, but there is nothing left. The warnings come. The shots follow. The Major does not blink.

Garraty keeps walking. There is no finish line, no grand announcement. He is the last one standing, but there is no triumph, no celebration. His feet move out of habit, his mind lost in the motion. The Major approaches, smiling, congratulating him. Garraty does not stop. He does not acknowledge the victory. A figure appears ahead, waiting for him in the distance. He cannot see their face, but they beckon him forward. He moves toward them, one step, then another.

He walks on.

Main Characters

• Ray Garraty – A sixteen-year-old from Maine and the protagonist. Initially naive, he grows increasingly introspective and haunted as he faces the grim reality of the Walk.
• Peter McVries – Charismatic and cynical, he forms a close bond with Garraty. His sarcasm and mysterious past mask deep emotional wounds.
• Art Baker – Kind-hearted and steady, Baker provides a sense of warmth and camaraderie among the walkers.
• Hank Olson – Cocky and overconfident at first, Olson begins to crack under the pressure as the Walk progresses.
• Gary Barkovitch – A defiant and antagonistic walker who relishes in psychological games, often taunting others.
• Stebbins – A quiet, enigmatic boy who keeps to himself, later revealed to have a deeper connection to the competition than initially apparent.
• The Major – The authoritative and almost mythical figure overseeing the Walk, embodying the government’s cold indifference to human suffering.

Theme

• Survival and Endurance – The boys must physically and mentally push beyond their limits, exposing the primal instincts of self-preservation.
• Death and Mortality – The Walk is a slow, inevitable march toward death, forcing the participants to confront their own mortality with every step.
• Government Control and Oppression – The contest is a spectacle of power, reinforcing an oppressive regime that treats human life as disposable entertainment.
• Friendship and Camaraderie – Despite being competitors, the boys form bonds, offering support even as they understand that only one can survive.
• Psychological Decay – The Walk becomes as much a battle of the mind as the body, with exhaustion, paranoia, and hallucinations setting in.

Writing Style and Tone

Stephen King’s writing in The Long Walk is immersive, tense, and deeply psychological. He masterfully builds suspense through a slow-burn narrative, capturing the mental and physical deterioration of the Walkers with haunting realism. The prose is straightforward yet evocative, often blending raw dialogue with introspective moments of despair and fleeting hope.

The tone shifts between grim inevitability and fleeting moments of camaraderie, heightening the emotional weight of the story. There’s an underlying sense of dread throughout, making every step the characters take feel both ordinary and excruciatingly significant. The narrative lingers on the exhaustion, pain, and fear, ensuring that the reader experiences the Walk as viscerally as the characters do.