The Long Walk

In this section, the correlation between the theme of Resisting Oppression and publicized displays of resistance emphasizes the power of visual propaganda. Any remaining hopes for the boys’ ability to resist oppression (or the soldiers’ capacity for sympathy) are dashed as Olson’s attempt at rebellion results in a bloody display of power. The boys’ attempt to unify and blow a collaborative raspberry of defiance may have been more successful at the beginning of the Walk when their numbers were greater and their energy wasn’t quite as depleted, but now that they’re weak and struggling, their effort to put forth a show of resistance just results in a pathetic display that motivates no one.

The relationship between spectators and spectated takes on a new and ugly dimension as Garraty’s need to poop in front of the crowd causes him severe embarrassment. Rather than reacting with sympathy or empathy, the crowd merely jeers, and Garraty wonders if they’ll claim his poop as a souvenir. Death and the necessity of embarrassing bodily functions emerge as true equalizers. McVries laments, “The reason all of this is so horrible […] is because it’s so trivial. You know? We’ve sold ourselves and traded our souls on trivialities. Olson, he was trivial. He was magnificent, too, but those things aren't mutually exclusive” (205). Indeed, the reduction of the boys’ lives and deaths to being measured by bodily functions—and food consumed and excreted—suggests that even the champion of the Walk will be reduced to the same status as those he beats. No matter how much they achieve self-aggrandizement through deeds or words, everyone is reduced to the same lowly status of being human. However, in this dystopian society, the crowd sees them as even less than human, underscoring the theme of Coming of Age in a Dystopian World.

After learning that Joe and Mike are brothers, McVries expresses anger toward them for both joining the Walk, since their parents are likely to lose two sons. McVries once again asserts himself as a moral judge whose frustration with the system prevents him from empathizing with those who believe that the system could help them. McVries enlightens Garraty and almost acts as a knight against naivete, a position that Garraty sometimes envies.

The boys have encountered the tribalizing effects of racism and their dystopian society as well as the equalizing effects of death. While doing so, they find opportunities to bond, supporting the theme of Male Friendship and Masculinity. For Baker, the Walk created an opportunity to meet people of color and realize that his past actions were morally wrong. Scramm’s alliance with Joe and Mike transcends the self-imposed boundaries that the boys previously considered impermeable. Garraty, slowly dissolving into unreliable narration because of exhaustion and delirium, marvels that Scramm and the brothers aren’t even speaking the same language in their final moments. As the boys sink further into madness, it’s not always clear what is accurately depicted and which of Garraty’s interpretations are products of exhaustion; however, one may infer that these moments of confusion accurately depict at least the mood of the Walk and the general frenzied environment that disorients the Walkers’ sense of self.