A boy is one of a hundred to participate in a deadly contest of endurance and determination.
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Commentary
Writing under the pseudonym Richard Bachman, Stephen King released a collection of novellas some twenty years ago. The Long Walk, which did not receive the attention of The Running Man, translated onto the big screen, and Rage, which seems to have all but disappeared due to the tragic high-school shooting incidents of recent years, is one of them.
The Long Walk consists of a group of 100 applicants, chosen each year at random from all of the submissions, to participate in a 'Long Walk'. The prize? Everything and anything you want for the rest of your life. The defeat? 'Buying your ticket' out of the walk means ending your life....as you are shot by accompanying soldiers, always mindful of your pace, as you cannot fall under four miles per hour, and always watchful for 'runners' who try to escape the walk as they wear out. The walkers are not allowed to stop, for anything, or they are issued warnings. After three strikes, you are out, permanently. King delves into the minds of several of the walkers, the largest treatise being given to Ray Garrity, the book's central character. Friendships are formed, enemies are made, and battle lines are drawn as each of the boys on the walk eyes the prize waiting at an undetermined distance ahead of them. The only way to win the prize, is to outwalk, and therefore outlive, everyone else. -- Bradford Morse,
