You do not have permission to edit this page, for the following reasons:

This IP address has been blocked from editing Wikipedia.
This does not affect your ability to read Wikipedia pages.
Most people who see this message have done nothing wrong. Some kinds of blocks restrict editing from specific service providers or telecom companies in response to recent abuse or vandalism, and can sometimes affect other users who are unrelated to that abuse. Review the information below for assistance if you do not believe that you have done anything wrong.

The IP address or range 44.197.0.0/16 has been blocked (disabled) by ‪Blablubbs‬ for the following reason(s):

The IP address that you are currently using has been blocked because it is believed to be a web host provider or colocation provider. To prevent abuse, web hosts and colocation providers may be blocked from editing Wikipedia.
You will not be able to edit Wikipedia using a web host or colocation provider because it hides your IP address, much like a proxy or VPN.
We recommend that you attempt to use another connection to edit. For example, if you use a proxy or VPN to connect to the internet, turn it off when editing Wikipedia. If you edit using a mobile connection, try using a Wi-Fi connection, and vice versa. If you are using a corporate internet connection, switch to a different Wi-Fi network. If you have a Wikipedia account, please log in.
If you do not have any other way to edit Wikipedia, you will need to request an IP block exemption.

How to appeal if you are confident that your connection does not use a colocation provider's IP address:
If you are confident that you are not using a web host, you may appeal this block by adding the following text on your talk page: ((unblock|reason=Caught by a colocation web host block but this host or IP is not a web host. My IP address is _______. Place any further information here. ~~~~)). You must fill in the blank with your IP address for this block to be investigated. Your IP address can be determined here. Alternatively, if you wish to keep your IP address private you can use the unblock ticket request system. There are several reasons you might be editing using the IP address of a web host or colocation provider (such as if you are using VPN software or a business network); please use this method of appeal only if you think your IP address is in fact not a web host or colocation provider.

Administrators: The IP block exemption user right should only be applied to allow users to edit using web host in exceptional circumstances, and requests should usually be directed to the functionaries team via email. If you intend to give the IPBE user right, a CheckUser needs to take a look at the account. This can be requested most easily at SPI Quick Checkuser Requests. Unblocking an IP or IP range with this template is highly discouraged without at least contacting the blocking administrator.

This block will expire on 10:52, 20 August 2024.

Even when blocked, you will usually still be able to edit your user talk page, as well as email administrators and other editors.

For information on how to proceed, please read the FAQ for blocked users and the guideline on block appeals. The guide to appealing blocks may also be helpful.

Other useful links: Blocking policy · Help:I have been blocked
Your IP address is in a range that has been blocked on all Wikimedia Foundation wikis. The block was made by ‪AntiCompositeNumber‬. The reason given is Open proxy/Webhost: Visit the FAQ if you are affected .
- Start of block: 13:55, 18 August 2022
- Expiry of block: 13:55, 18 November 2024
Your current IP address is 44.197.119.13. The blocked range is 44.197.0.0/16. Please include all above details in any queries you make. If you believe you were blocked by mistake, you can find additional information and instructions in the No open proxies global policy. Otherwise, to discuss the block please post a request for review on Meta-Wiki. You could also send an email to the stewards VRT queue at stewards@wikimedia.org including all above details.

You can view and copy the source of this page:

((Short description|1979 novel by Stephen King))
((About|the novel|other uses|Long Walk (disambiguation)))
((more citations needed|date=September 2013))
((Infobox book| <!-- See Wikipedia:WikiProject_Novels or Wikipedia:WikiProject_Books -->
| name         = The Long Walk
| title_orig   =
| translator   =
| image        = Bachman, Long Walk.jpg
| caption = First edition cover 
| author       = [[Stephen King]] (as [[Richard Bachman]])
| cover_artist =
| country      = United States
| language     = English
| series       =
| genre        = [[Psychological horror]]<ref>((cite book|last=Beahm|first=George|title=Stephen King from A to Z: An Encyclopedia of His Life and Work|date=2010|page=[https://archive.org/details/stephenkingfromt00beah/page/128 128]|isbn=9780836269147|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/stephenkingfromt00beah/page/128|publisher=[[Andrews McMeel Publishing]]|location=Kansas City, Missouri))</ref><br/>[[Dystopia]]<!-- more precise than [[Science fiction]] -->
| publisher    = [[Signet Books]]
| release_date = July 3, [[1979 in literature|1979]]
| media_type   = Print (paperback)
| pages        = 384
| isbn         = 978-0-451-08754-6
))
'''''The Long Walk''''' is a [[Dystopian fiction|dystopian]] [[Horror fiction|horror]] novel by American writer [[Stephen King]], published  in 1979, under the [[pseudonym]] [[Richard Bachman]]. It was collected in 1985 in the [[hardcover]] omnibus ''[[The Bachman Books]]'', and has seen several reprints since, as both paperback and hardback. In 2023, [[Centipede Press]] released the first stand-alone hardcover edition,<ref>((Cite web |title=The Long Walk |url=https://www.centipedepress.com/horror/longwalk.html |access-date=2023-03-14 |website=www.centipedepress.com))</ref> which was illustrated by [[Jim and Ruth Keegan]].

Set in a future [[dystopia]]n America, ruled by a [[totalitarian]] regime, the plot revolves around the contestants of a grueling annual walking contest. In 2000, the [[American Library Association]] listed ''The Long Walk'' as one of the 100 best books for teenage readers published between 1966 and 2000.<ref>((Cite journal | url = http://home.comcast.net/~antaylor1/alabestteens.html | title = ALA best teens | first = An | last = Taylor | publisher = Comcast | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120326144540/http://home.comcast.net/~antaylor1/alabestteens.html | archive-date = 2012-03-26 ))</ref>

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 (novel)|Carrie]]'', was released in 1974.<ref>((cite book|last=King|first=Stephen|authorlink=Stephen King|title=Full Dark, No Stars|url=https://archive.org/details/fulldarknostars00king|url-access=registration|year=2010|chapter=Afterword|publisher=Scribner |isbn=9781439192566 ))</ref>

==Plot==
In a dystopian America, a major source of entertainment is the Long Walk, in which 100 teenage boys walk without rest along [[U.S. Route 1]]. Each Walker must stay above four miles per hour. If a Walker drops below this speed for 30 seconds, he gets a warning. A Walker can lose a warning if he walks for an hour without getting another warning. If a Walker gets three warnings and continues to lag behind for 30 seconds, he is shot dead by soldiers. The last surviving Walker earns a large sum of money and a "Prize" of his choice.

Ray Garraty from [[Androscoggin County, Maine]], arrives at the start of the Walk on the Canada-Maine border, where he meets several other Walkers such as the sardonic McVries, the friendly Baker, the cocky Olson and the enigmatic Stebbins. The Major, the leader of the secret police force known as the Squads, starts the Walk. Throughout the first day, Garraty befriends Baker, Olson, and several other Walkers such as Abraham and Pearson, growing particularly close to McVries and becoming particularly intrigued by Stebbins. A Walker named Barkovitch reveals to a reporter that he is in the Long Walk to "dance on the graves" of other participants, and later provokes another Walker into attacking him, resulting in the Walker's death and Barkovitch being ostracized.

Garraty succeeds in surviving the night. Scramm, the odds-on favorite in Vegas, tells Garraty that he has a pregnant wife and so will have sufficient motivation to keep going. Garraty decides that his motivation will be surviving until [[Freeport, Maine|Freeport]] as this will allow him to see his girlfriend Jan in the crowd. The Walkers begin to resent the Major, and McVries stops walking in an attempt to fight the soldiers, but is saved by Garraty. In return, McVries saves Garraty's life after Garraty experiences hysterics when the spectators increase in number. This camaraderie infuriates Olson, who is now severely fatigued and wants Garraty to die. Garraty reveals to the others that his father was Squaded, and a fight almost breaks out between McVries and another Walker, Collie Parker, when Parker claims that only "damn fools" are Squaded.

Stebbins tells Garraty both that he believes he is going to win, and that the Walkers are all participating because they want to die. McVries and Baker both seem to be examples of this, due to McVries seeking pain and Baker's fascination with death; McVries also tells Garraty that he will sit down when he cannot walk any further. Stebbins also  advises Garraty to watch Olson, who keeps walking despite being unresponsive. After Garraty brings Olson out of this state, Olson attacks the soldiers and is killed slowly and brutally.

Scramm catches pneumonia and becomes unable to finish the Walk, and the other Walkers agree that the winner should provide financial security for Scramm's wife. Garraty asks Barkovitch to join the agreement, and Barkovitch agrees as he has become lonely and manic in his isolation from the others. Garraty also asks Stebbins, who tells Garraty that there was nothing special about Olson and that he was lying; Garraty, however, believes that Stebbins came to a realization that scared him. Scramm thanks the others and is killed in an act of defiance against the soldiers.

After developing a [[charley horse]], Garraty is given three warnings and has to walk for an hour to lose one. To distract himself, he tells McVries about how he felt a compulsion to join the Walk and that his mother was blinded by the thought of financial security. McVries reveals that he joined the Walk against the wishes of his family, and Abraham tells Garraty that he did not withdraw after being accepted due to the amusement it provided his town.

Garraty begins to suffer from doubts about his sexuality and masculinity due to suppressed memories re-emerging, especially after McVries hints that he is sexually attracted to Garraty. This causes Garraty to lash out at a deteriorating Barkovitch, and Barkovitch commits suicide when the rest of the Walkers begin taunting him. Garraty wakes the next morning to find that many Walkers (including Pearson) have died overnight, as Barkovitch predicted.

When the Walkers arrive in Freeport, Garraty attempts to die in Jan's arms but is saved by McVries. As a response, Abraham convinces the Walkers to make a promise to stop helping each other, which Garraty does reluctantly. This has disastrous consequences: Parker starts a revolution against the soldiers but is killed when nobody joins in; Abraham removes his shirt and catches pneumonia overnight because nobody can offer him a replacement, resulting in his death; Baker falls over and gains a severe nosebleed, and is given three warnings as nobody can help him up.

On the morning of the fifth day, Stebbins reveals to Garraty and McVries that he is the Major's son, and that his Prize would be acceptance into the Major's household. However, Stebbins has become aware that the Major is using him as a "rabbit" to cause the Walk to last longer, which has worked, as seven Walkers make it into Massachusetts. Baker, now somewhat delirious and described as a "raw-blood machine", tells Garraty that he cannot walk any further and thanks Garraty for being his friend. Garraty unsuccessfully tries to talk him out of suicide.

With Baker dead, the only remaining Walkers are Garraty, Stebbins and McVries. As Garraty tells him a fairy tale, McVries falls asleep and begins walking at the crowd, and Garraty breaks his promise and saves him; however, McVries chooses to sit down and die peacefully. A distraught Garraty is beckoned by a dark figure further ahead, and decides that he will give up because Stebbins cannot be beaten. When he tries to tell Stebbins, Stebbins clutches at him in horror and falls over dead. His corpse is shot when the Major arrives.

This leaves Garraty the uncomprehending winner. He ignores the Major and approaches the dark figure (whom he believes to be another Walker), declaring that there is "still so far to walk".

==Characters==
; Raymond Davis 'Ray' Garraty (#47)
: The novel's main character and point-of-view character, a sixteen-year-old boy from [[Pownal, Maine|Pownal]], Maine (for which he is called a "hick"). He is described as tall and well built with a 'heavy shock' of 'straw-thatch' hair and a faded army fatigue jacket. Garraty is bitter, naive and thoughtful, which makes him a good confidant for the other Walkers, and felt a compulsion to join the Walk that he struggles to understand. Although he has done farmwork, he is not an experienced athlete. His hobbies include dancing, reading, knitting and constellations; conversely, he dislikes beer and cities.
; Peter "Pete" McVries (#61)
: Garraty's closest companion, a sixteen-year-old boy from [[Passaic, New Jersey|Passaic]], New Jersey. He is described as "awesomely fit" with black hair, a knapsack and a white scar across his cheek, which he received from his ex-girlfriend. McVries is sardonic and has a masochistic streak, often goading others into pushing him away even during the pains of the Walk. He saves Garraty multiple times in the game, also giving him advice. He carries a strong hatred towards Barkovitch, stating his only desire is to outlast him.
; Stebbins (#88)
: A loner who walks at the rear of the group, a seventeen-year-old boy and the illegitimate son of the Major. He is described as a "lean Buddha" with pale blue eyes and a "sickly halo" of blond hair, and wears an old green sweater, a blue chambray shirt, purple pants and tennis shoes (which he later swaps for moccasins). Stebbins is calm, playful and mocking, and often talks to Garraty in riddles. He is convinced that the Walk is rigged, and is scared at the prospect of it being a straight game.
; Arthur "Art" Baker (#3)
: Another boy who is close with Garraty and McVries. He is a boy from a large, lower-class family in Louisiana (for which he is called a "cracker"). He is described as appearing "young and beautiful" and "almost ethereal", as moving with "deceptive leisure", and as wearing a red-striped shirt. Baker is sweet and sincere, but is a con artist and a former night rider, and he has a fascination with his own death.
; Henry "Hank" Olson (#70)
: One of Garraty's earliest companions, a boy of unknown background. He is described as an experienced smoker wearing his foodbelt slung low "like a gunslinger". Olson is cocky and arrogant and humorous ("raring to rip"), but quickly becomes withdrawn and unresponsive, with Garraty believing that he has become a "human Flying Dutchman".
; Gary Barkovitch (#5)
: A boy from Washington, DC. He is described as small and olive-skinned with a sharp nose and hooded eyes, and he sometimes wears a vinyl yellow rainhat; Garraty considers him to look like a "destructive child's teddy bear". Barkovitch is intense and adheres to a mysterious "Plan", and threatens to "dance on the graves" of the other Walkers, but becomes paranoid and insane when they ostracize him. He and McVries have a heated hatred towards each other throughout the walk.
; Abraham "Abe" (#2)
: One of Garraty's companions, a seventeen-year-old boy called a "rube". He is described as disjointed and shambling, with reddish hair, Oxford shoes and a jacket tied around his waist. Abraham is droll and somber and short-tempered, particularly when jibes are made at his intelligence, and entered the Walk partially as a joke.
; Collie Parker (#71-79)
: A boy from [[Joliet, Illinois|Joliet]], Illinois. He is described as a big-muscled blond with a polo shirt and an insolent look; Garraty further describes him as a "leather jacket hero" and a "Saturday night tough guy". Parker despises Maine and uses excessive profanity, and often attempts to flirt with the spectators despite considering them to be "pigs".
; Pearson (#73-81)
: One of Garraty's companions. He is described as a tall boy with glasses and pants that are too big for him. Pearson is morose and enjoys poetry, game theory and chess, and views the Walk as a competition that can be solved logically. For luck, Pearson has ninety-nine pennies in his pocket, and moves one to his other pocket whenever someone dies.
; Scramm (#85)
: The predicted winner of the current Long Walk, a boy from Arizona with a pregnant wife. He is described as a shaggy young man with a crew cut, few remaining teeth, and a "moose-like" physique. Although dim-witted, Scramm is friendly and possesses a "simple dignity". He has dropped out of school and works in a bedsheet factory.

==Adaptations==
In 1988, [[George A. Romero]] was approached to direct the film adaptation, but it never happened.<ref>[http://www.liljas-library.com/unproducedscreenplays.php?id=38 Lilja's Library – The World of Stephen King – Unproduced Screenplays]</ref>

By 2007, [[Frank Darabont]] had secured the rights to the film adaptation of the novel.<ref>((cite web |url=http://www.liljas-library.com/showinterview.php?id=38 |title=Interview: Frank Darabont
|website=Lilja's Library – The World of Stephen King |date=2007-02-06 |access-date=2018-06-27))</ref> He said that he would "get to it one day". He planned to make it low-budget, "weird, existential, and very self contained".<ref>[http://www.ugo.com/ugo/html/article/?id=18351&sectionId=2 Frank Darabont Interview] ((webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110511165353/http://www.ugo.com/ugo/html/article/?id=18351&sectionId=2 |date=2011-05-11 ))</ref>

[[Kirby Heyborne]] narrated an [[audiobook]] adaptation of the novel in 2010 for [[Blackstone Audio]].

In April 2018, it was announced that [[New Line Cinema]] would develop a film adaptation of the novel. 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.<ref>((cite web|first=Haleigh|last=Foutch|date=April 25, 2018|url=http://collider.com/the-long-walk-movie/#stephen-king|title=Stephen King's 'The Long Walk' in Development at New Line|website=[[Collider (website)|Collider]]))</ref> On May 21, 2019, New Line announced that [[André Øvredal]] would direct the adaptation,<ref>((cite web|first=Anthony|last=D'Allesandro|url=https://deadline.com/2019/05/stephen-king-the-long-walk-new-line-movie-andre-ovredal-directing-1202620157/|title=André Øvredal To Direct Stephen King's 'The Long Walk' For New Line|work=[[Deadline Hollywood]]|date=21 May 2019 |access-date=March 25, 2020))</ref> and on November 28, 2023, [[Francis Lawrence]] was announced to direct the adaptation.<ref>((cite web|url=https://bloody-disgusting.com/movie/3790188/the-long-walk-francis-lawrence-now-attached-to-direct-stephen-king-movie/|title='The Long Walk' – Francis Lawrence Now Attached to Direct Stephen King Movie|first=John|last=Squires|work=Bloody Disgusting|date=28 November 2023|access-date=28 November 2023))</ref>

==See also==
* [[Death march]]
* [[Delta_Force#Selection_process|Delta Force selection process]]
* [[Battle Royale (novel)|''Battle Royale'' (novel)]]

==References==
((Reflist))

==External links==
* [http://www.stephenking.com/library/bachman_novel/long_walk_the.html ''The Long Walk''] at Stephen King's official site

((Stephen King))
((Authority control))

((DEFAULTSORT:Long Walk, The))
[[Category:1979 science fiction novels]]
[[Category:1970s horror novels]]
[[Category:1979 American novels]]
[[Category:American speculative fiction novels]]
[[Category:Psychological novels]]
[[Category:Fiction about death games]]
[[Category:Dystopian novels]]
[[Category:Novels set in Maine]]
[[Category:Novels by Richard Bachman]]
[[Category:Novels about World War II alternate histories]]
[[Category:Signet Books books]]

Pages transcluded onto the current version of this page (help):

The Long Walk (edit)
Template:About (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Ambox (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Authority control (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Both (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Catalog lookup link (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Cite book (view source) (protected)
Template:Cite journal (view source) (protected)
Template:Cite web (view source) (protected)
Template:Find sources mainspace (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Hlist/styles.css (view source) (protected)
Template:ISBN (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:ISBNT (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Icon (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Infobox (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Infobox book (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Longitem (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Main other (view source) (protected)
Template:More citations needed (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Navbox (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Nbsp (view source) (protected)
Template:Pagetype (view source) (protected)
Template:Reflist (view source) (protected)
Template:Reflist/styles.css (view source) (protected)
Template:SDcat (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Short description (view source) (protected)
Template:Short description/lowercasecheck (view source) (protected)
Template:Spaces (view source) (protected)
Template:Stephen King (view source) (semi-protected)
Template:Template other (view source) (protected)
Template:Webarchive (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Wikidata image (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Yesno (view source) (protected)
Template:Yesno-no (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:About (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Arguments (view source) (protected)
Module:Authority control (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Authority control/config (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Catalog lookup link (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Category handler (view source) (protected)
Module:Category handler/blacklist (view source) (protected)
Module:Category handler/config (view source) (protected)
Module:Category handler/data (view source) (protected)
Module:Category handler/shared (view source) (protected)
Module:Check for unknown parameters (view source) (protected)
Module:Check isxn (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Citation/CS1 (view source) (protected)
Module:Citation/CS1/COinS (view source) (protected)
Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration (view source) (protected)
Module:Citation/CS1/Date validation (view source) (protected)
Module:Citation/CS1/Identifiers (view source) (protected)
Module:Citation/CS1/Utilities (view source) (protected)
Module:Citation/CS1/Whitelist (view source) (protected)
Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css (view source) (protected)
Module:Disambiguation/templates (view source) (protected)
Module:EditAtWikidata (view source) (protected)
Module:Find sources (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Find sources/config (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Find sources/links (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Find sources/templates/Find sources mainspace (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Format link (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Hatnote (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Hatnote/styles.css (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Hatnote list (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Icon (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Icon/data (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Infobox (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Infobox/styles.css (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:InfoboxImage (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Italic title (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Message box (view source) (protected)
Module:Message box/ambox.css (view source) (protected)
Module:Message box/configuration (view source) (protected)
Module:Namespace detect/config (view source) (protected)
Module:Namespace detect/data (view source) (protected)
Module:Navbar (view source) (protected)
Module:Navbar/configuration (view source) (protected)
Module:Navbar/styles.css (view source) (protected)
Module:Navbox (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Navbox/configuration (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Navbox/styles.css (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Pagetype (view source) (protected)
Module:Pagetype/config (view source) (protected)
Module:Pagetype/disambiguation (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Pagetype/setindex (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Pagetype/softredirect (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:SDcat (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:String (view source) (protected)
Module:Template wrapper (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Unsubst (view source) (protected)
Module:Webarchive (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Webarchive/data (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Wikidata (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Wikitext Parsing (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Yesno (view source) (protected)

Return to The Long Walk.

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Long_Walk"