History Literature / TheLongWalk

Not to be confused with [[ComicBook/JudgeDredd the retirement option for judges]] or Sławomir Rawicz’s disputed memoir of the same name. Compare and contrast King's ''other'' novel centered on a deadly gameshow, ''Literature/TheRunningMan''.

* SpoilerCover: The cover of the book shows [[spoiler:#47 (Garraty) as the last one standing.]]

* UnbuiltTrope: Had it been released in TheNewTens it would be considered a {{Deconstruction}} of works like ''The Testing'' or ''Literature/TheHungerGames'', since it starts with very similar premise (dystopian country holding a DeadlyGame for their youth). However unlike in those works, the walkers are all volunteers mostly in it for the prize, there is no hope of them threatening the system or inspiring the populace to rise up and things as simple as walkers' bodily functions are a much more of a hindrance to them than any kind of interpersonal rivalry.

* The last Walker alive wins "The Prize," anything he wants for the rest of his life ([[PyrrhicVictory short as it may be]]), as well as an undefined sum of money which is apparently less than $1 million since the country no longer has any millionaires.

* Each Walker starts with a two minute timer
* When a Walker's speed in the correct direction falls below 4 MPH, their timer counts down
* Walkers get a 1st, 2nd and 3rd warning when their timer reaches 90, 60 and 30 respectively
* Walkers [[DeadlyEuphemism "buy a ticket"]] when their timer reaches 0
* Violating certain rules like interference with another Walker, get a warning which causes their timer to drop to the next warning threshold of 90, 60, 30 or 0 (ticket)
* If a Walker goes one hour without a new warning, then they lose a warning, which means their timer is restored to the next highest warning threshold of 60 (2nd warning), 90 (1st warning) or 120 (0 warnings)
* If the Walker goes one hour without a new warning, but they have no warnings, but their timer is approaching their first warning, and therefore less than 120, their timer is restored to 120
* Civilians are arrested for giving aid to Walkers
* Walkers receive no penalty for receiving aid from civilians
* Civilians can get a ticket for interfering with Walkers
* If a Walker violates a rule when he has three warnings, he buys a ticket
* If a Walker leaves the road, he instantly buys a ticket
* If a Walker attacks a soldier, he instantly buys a ticket
* The last Walker alive wins "The Prize" which is anything he wants for the rest of his life ([[PyrrhicVictory short as it may be]]) plus a large sum of money which is not defined but is less than one million, since there are no more millionaires

* WanderingWalkOfMadness: By the end of the Walk, there's only one survivor, and even after he wins he keeps walking (and even starts ''running'') towards a hallucinatory figure beckoning him to continue.

* ItsAllAboutMe: McVries got his scar from [[spoiler: his ex-girlfriend, who slashed his face with a letter opener when he tried to rape her. McVries is hung up on the fact that she asked him why he would hurt her when HE was the one with a cut.]]

''The Long Walk'' is a novel by Creator/StephenKing published under the [[PenName pseudonym]] Richard Bachman in 1979 as a paperback original. It was collected in 1985 in the hardcover omnibus ''The Bachman Books'', and has seen several reprints since, as both paperback & hardback. The plot revolves around the contestants of [[DeadlyGame a grueling walking contest]], held annually by a [[DayOfTheJackboot despotic and totalitarian]] [[AlternateHistory version]] of 1980's America. The rules of the eponymous Long Walk are as follows (at least the ones that are mentioned in the novel):

Not to be confused with [[ComicBook/JudgeDredd the retirement option for judges]] or Sławomir Rawicz’s disputed memoir of the same name.

* ItsAllAboutMe: [=McVries=] got his scar from his ex-girlfriend, who slashed his face with a letter opener following his attempt to rape her. McVries is hung up on the fact that she asked him why he hurt her when he was the one with a cut.

* InterplayOfSexAndViolence:

* ItsAllAboutMe: [=McVries=] got his scar from his ex-girlfriend, who slashed his face with a letter opener and then asked him why he hurt her.

* Walker's get a 1st, 2nd and 3rd warning when their timer reaches 90, 60 and 30 respectively
* Walker's [[DeadlyEuphemism "buy a ticket"]] when their timer reaches 0

* YouAreNumberSix: Each of the hundred walkers is referred to be number when incurring warnings. Garraty's number is 47. No mention of him having [[VideoGame/Hitman a bar code on the back of his head though.]]

* The last Walker remaining wins "The Prize" which is anything he wants for the rest of his life ([[PyrrhicVictory short as it may be]]) plus a large sum of money which is not defined but is less than one million, since there are no more millionaires

* Walker's get a 1st, 2nd and 3rd warning when their timer reach 90, 60 and 30 respectively

* If the Walker goes one hour without a new warning, but they have no warnings, but their timer is approaching their first warning, and therefore less than 120, their timer is restore to 120

* Each walker starts with a two minute timer
* When a walker's speed in the correct direction falls below 4 MPH, their timer counts down

* Violating certain rules like interference with another walker, get a warning which causes their timer to drop to the next warning threshold of 90, 60, 30 or 0 (ticket)
* If a walker goes one hour without a new warning, then they lose a warning, which means their timer is restored to the next highest warning threshold of 60 (2nd warning), 90 (1st warning) or 120 (0 warnings)
* If the walker goes one hour without a new warning, but they have no warnings, but their timer is approaching their first warning, and therefore less than 120, their timer is restore to 120

* AgonyOfTheFeet: Because of the extreme distance involved in the Walk, many of the walkers develop blisters, swollen feet, and other ailments on their feet, especially those among them whose shoes are destroyed on the walk. When Garraty loses his shoes, he notes how swollen his feet have become. One poor unfortunate gets his feet run over by the halftrack, leaving him unable to continue.
* AlternateHistory: A blink-and-you-miss-it example where Garraty narrates about a landscape view reminding him of the German air-blitz on the American East Coast during the last days of World War II. Other examples include a comment about an official who lost a leg to radiation storming a German nuclear bunker in Santiago, Chile during 1953 (suggesting the war went on for around another decade), a mention of April 31st as the day before the Walk begins, and a statement hinting that America has 51 states.

* AmbiguousEnding: [[spoiler: Garraty wins the walk but what exactly happens after that isn't clear. Is the dark figure {{Death}}? Is it a hallucination brought on by his exhaustion? Is it merely another person in the distance? [[WildMassGuessing Or is it something else altogether?]]]]

* BigBrotherIsWatching: Anyone who is too "political" or vocal against the government is taken away by the Squads.

* BolivianArmyEnding: [[spoiler:Garraty wins the Walk, and breaks into a run after his last competitor buys his ticket. The novel ends without letting us know his fate, although it's implied that he's gone insane from the stress.]]
* BoomHeadshot: How most of the Walkers who buy their ticket are executed.

* DeerInTheHeadlights: Olson describes an incident from the start of the Walk two years earlier. One participant completely froze up at the starting line and bought his ticket two minutes later without taking a single step.

* DevelopingDoomedCharacters: One of the hardest parts of the Walk is making friends, as eventually, they will die. Several characters give their backstories as the walk goes on, only for them all to buy their tickets.

* DwindlingParty: One hundred boys start the Walk. One by one, they die until one remains.

* ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin: The Long Walk. 100 teenage boys walk until there is only one left standing.
* FaceDeathWithDignity: [[spoiler:Scramm, knowing full well he can't finish the Walk with such an advanced case of pneumonia, and Mike, one of two Hopi brothers who gets struck with severe abdominal cramping. Instead of just falling over and taking it, Scramm says his goodbyes, talks with Mike who bids goodbye to his brother, and walks into the escorting half-track's path. They flip the half-track off, insult the soldiers approaching them and sit down to talk while they wait for death.]]

* Consistently maintain a speed of at least 4 MPH
* No aid is to be given by a civilian to any Walker, nor should a Walker accept it
* Interference with any of the Walkers, even by another Walker, is strictly forbidden
* Falling below 4 MPH for 30 seconds, or violating any other rule, incurs a Warning
* If a Walker manages to go on walking for an hour without receiving a Warning, one of his Warnings is removed
* If a Walker violates a rule when he has accumulated three Warnings already, [[DeadlyEuphemism he "buys a ticket"]] out of the Walk

* The last Walker remaining wins "The Prize" - anything he wants for the rest of his life ([[PyrrhicVictory short as it may be]])

''The Long Walk'' is a novella by Creator/StephenKing published under the [[PenName pseudonym]] Richard Bachman in 1979 as a paperback original. It was collected in 1985 in the hardcover omnibus ''The Bachman Books'', and has seen several reprints since, as both paperback & hardback. The plot revolves around the contestants of [[DeadlyGame a grueling walking contest]], held annually by a [[DayOfTheJackboot despotic and totalitarian]] [[AlternateHistory version]] of 1980's America. The rules of the eponymous Long Walk are as follows (at least the ones that are mentioned in the novel):

* KillEmAll: Every contestant save for [[spoiler:Ray Garraty]] dies during the Walk, and it looks he won't have long to live either, even though he won. It's mentioned earlier in the story that most of the previous Walks' winners died not long after due to the immense physical and psychological strain it placed on them.

* ReleasedToElsewhere: At the beginning of the book, all the reader knows is that if a Walker commits any offense, then they get a Warning and if he commits one more when he's already got three Warnings accumulated, he "buys a ticket." [[spoiler:It then turns out that "buying a ticket" is a euphemism for being shot dead by the soldiers on the escorting halftrack.]]

* PyrrhicVictory: [[spoiler:Garraty is the Pyrrhic Victor of the eponymous Long Walk by virtue of having outwalked 99 other male teenagers. However, he's also watched most of them die, including those he had established a rapport with, and is at the point where his physical and mental health have greatly deteriorated and he welcomes the prospect of his own death.]]