what was the purpose of the long walk

Full Answer

When did the Long Walk start?

The "Long Walk" started in the beginning of spring in 1864. Bands of Navajo led by the Army were relocated from their traditional lands in eastern Arizona Territory and western New Mexico Territory to Fort Sumner (in an area called the Bosque Redondo or Hwéeldi by the Navajo) in the Pecos River valley.

What is the Long Walk of the Navajo?

The Long Walk of the Navajo , also called the Long Walk to Bosque Redondo ( Navajo: Hwéeldi ), refers to the 1864 deportation and attempted ethnic cleansing of the Navajo people by the government of the United States of America. Navajos were forced to walk from their land in what is now Arizona to eastern New Mexico.

What is the Long Walk by Richard Bachman about?

He’s a renowned master of horror—penning the likes of Carrie, The Shining, IT, and Misery to name just a few—but it was his vision of a dystopian future America that first grabbed my attention: The Long Walk. Originally published under the pseudonym Richard Bachman, The Long Walk features a grueling contest that will see only one survivor.

Is the Long Walk a good movie to watch?

The Long Walk is slow but enthralling, putting you right there on the road beside these boys, knowingly walking themselves to death. You watch as they come apart at the seams one step at a time, their own particular neuroses coming to the forefront just long enough to leave an impression and—more than likely—kill them.

What is the point of The Long Walk?

Many have suggested The Long Walk is a metaphor for war, more specifically Vietnam, which was the ongoing conflict during the novel's gestation – a fight to the death where whoever makes it out alive might be so irreparably damaged, he wishes he weren't alive at all. A fight that, perhaps, no prize is worth.

When did The Long Walk end?

June 1, 1868The Treaty of Bosque Redondo between the United States and many of the Navajo leaders was concluded at Fort Sumner on June 1, 1868.

When did King write The Long Walk?

The Long Walk was written by King when he was a college student, majoring in English at the University of Maine, in 1966-7. He sent the manuscript off to a major publisher as part of a first-novel competition and quickly received a form rejection.

How many died in The Long Walk?

Along the way, approximately 200 Navajos died of starvation and exposure to the elements. Four years later, having endured overcrowded and miserable conditions at Bosque Redondo, the Navajo signed the historic U.S.-Navajo Treaty of 1868.

Who is the dark figure in The Long Walk?

The Wikipedia entry mentions that the dark figure at the story's end is perhaps Randall Flagg, a recurring character in King, apparently, who I must confess I don't remember although I've read most of '70s and '80s King and King-as-Bachman.

Who survives The Long Walk?

Olson manages to outlast the majority of the walkers, because, as he admits to Garraty, "he does not want to die." He eventually rushes the halftrack, climbing aboard and seizing a gun from a sleeping soldier, shooting another one.

How did the book The Long Walk end?

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.

How The Long Walk became the way back?

Written by Mr. Weir and Keith Clarke, “The Way Back” was inspired by a 1956 best seller, “The Long Walk,” about a Polish Army officer, Slavomir Rawicz, who claimed to have escaped a Siberian camp and walked 4,000 miles to India.

What are the rules of The Long Walk?

No sleep, no rest, no leaving the road or interfering with other walkers, just walk until you can't walk anymore, with the literal last man standing earning the ultimate prize, anything they want for the rest of their lives.

Was The Long Walk a true story?

In 1941, the author and six other fellow prisoners escaped a Soviet labor camp in Yakutsk--a camp where enduring hunger, cold, untended wounds, untreated illnesses, and avoiding daily executions were everyday feats.

Did The Long Walk really happen?

The Long Walk caused a sensation when it came out 1956. Allegedly a true story of a great escape from one of Stalin´s terrible gulags, initiated by the young Polish cavalry officer Slavomir Rawicz. In April 1941, he escaped from camp 303, located south of Yakutsk, in a blizzard together with six other prisoners.

Where did The Long Walk start and end?

In a forced removal, the U.S. Army drives the Navajo at gunpoint as they walk from their homeland in Arizona and New Mexico, to Fort Sumner, 300 miles away at Bosque Redondo. Hundreds die during 18 days of marching.

Was The Long Walk a true story?

In 1941, the author and six other fellow prisoners escaped a Soviet labor camp in Yakutsk--a camp where enduring hunger, cold, untended wounds, untreated illnesses, and avoiding daily executions were everyday feats.

Why does Garraty run at the end of The Long Walk?

the figure Garraty sees at the end of the walk is death. He is so deep into the walk that all that is left to him is the walk itself. He lost all his hopes, his dreams and likely had before the walk even started. The walk was a giant death wish and he was going on till he met it.

Is The Long Walk being made into a movie?

With its limited theatrical release on February 18th The Long Walk became the first Laotian film to play in American theaters. It comes to VOD and Digital platforms on March 1st. You can check the film's website and Facebook page for details.

What is the Long Walk?

The Long Walk has become a favorite sporting spectacle in the United States at an undefined future time. Military extremists have taken over the country, and the Long Walk is their version of a heroic exercise. The Long Walk is a contest involving one hundred young men, chosen by lottery...

Who is the Major in the Walk?

The walk is presided over by the Major, a figure who is almost mythical but who shows up regularly during the event. The Major is present at the beginning of the walk, appears to salute the walkers during their ordeal, and is there to greet the winner at the end. The Major embodies the “spit and polish” military image, but he is much more, symbolically, in this book. He is the representative of the repressive regime that has taken over the country. The regime is supported by the Squads, military groups who remove those who might oppose the reigning powers. Garraty’s father has been “Squaded”—taken off by the Squads, never to be seen again. If not a major player in the novel’s action, the Major is one who looms so large in the book’s structure as to prefigure its development. One of the walkers, the one who seems destined to win the race, says that the Major is his father. Although there is no way to know whether this is true, readers are given little reason to doubt it.

Where did the Long Walk begin?

Bands of Navajo led by the Army were relocated from their traditional lands in eastern Arizona Territory and western New Mexico Territory to Fort Sumner (in an area called the Bosque Redondo or Hwéeldi by the Navajo) in the Pecos River valley.

What is the Long Walk of the Navajo?

Long Walk of the Navajo. The Long Walk of the Navajo, also called the Long Walk to Bosque Redondo ( Navajo: Hwéeldi ), refers to the 1864 deportation and attempted ethnic cleansing of the Navajo people by the United States federal government.

Why did the Navajos surrender?

Navajos who surrendered were taken to Fort Canby and those who resisted were murdered. Some Navajos were able to escape Carson's campaign but were soon forced to surrender due to starvation and the freezing temperature of the winter months. The "Long Walk" started in the beginning of spring 1864.

Who was the leader of the Navajos during the Long Walk?

Hostilities escalated between European Americans and Navajos following the scalping of the respected Navajo leader Narbona in 1849. In August 1851, Colonel Edwin Vose Sumner established Fort Defiance for the U.S. government (near present-day Window Rock, Arizona) and Fort Wingate (originally Fort Fauntleroy near Gallup, New Mexico ). Prior to the Long Walk, there were a series of treaties signed in 1849, 1858, and 1861.

How many forced marches were there in 1864?

Some 53 different forced marches occurred between August 1864 and the end of 1866. Some anthropologists claim that the "collective trauma of the Long Walk...is critical to contemporary Navajos' sense of identity as a people".

When did the Navajo tribe return to their traditional boundaries?

On June 18, 1868, the once-scattered bands of people who call themselves Diné, set off together on the return journey, the "Long Walk" home. This is one of the few instances where the U.S. government permitted a tribe to return to their traditional boundaries. The Navajo were granted 3.5 million acres (14,000 km 2) of land inside their four sacred mountains. The Navajo also became a more cohesive tribe after the Long Walk and were able to successfully increase the size of their reservation since then, to over 16 million acres (70,000 km 2 ).

Which tribe proved to be most useful?

One tribe that proved to be most useful were the Utes. The Utes were very knowledgeable of the lands of the Navajos, and were very familiar with Navajo strongholds as well. Carson launched his full-scale assault on the Navajo population in January 1864.

What is the goal of the Long Walk?

(Think Hunger Games meets Lord of the Flies.) The goal is to not stop walking. You cannot stop to eat.

What does the Long Walk remind us of?

At its purest core, The Long Walk reminds us that life is a journey, not a destination.

What do we know about Ray before the walk begins?

We know very little about Ray before the walk begins – just enough to know that everything has led up to this. Ray’s life, as we know it, is the walk itself.

How old was Stephen King when he wrote The Long Walk?

While The Long Walk might not be the most popular of Stephen King’s work, it is astonishing to think that he wrote it at 19 years old. It’s extremely mature in its scope and allegory. The Long Walk depicts an annual contest operated by the government, wherein dozens of teenage boys chosen from a lottery compete against each other while the world watches on as a spectator sport. (Think Hunger Games meets Lord of the Flies.)

Why is it so easy to relate to Stephen King's characters?

It is because of King’s immense talent for portraying humanity (particularly that of modern day American culture) that it is so easy to not only relate to his characters, but to learn from them. It is in the reflection of their choices that we often find ourselves stopping to reflect on our own.

How long is a Stephen King movie?

This is perhaps one of the biggest differences between reading a Stephen King story, and watching a film based on it. A 90-minute movie can’t touch the characterization King provides us with in hundreds (sometimes thousands) of pages.

What is the long walk?

Originally published under the pseudonym Richard Bachman, The Long Walk features a grueling contest that will see only one survivor. In this way it’s akin to Koushun Takami’s Battle Royale or Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games, but in The Long Walk, there’s no real physical contact or violence—instead it’s exactly what it says on the tin: a long walk, a test of pure will and sheer endurance. And it’s this simplicity that grabbed me the first time I read The Long Walk. There’s no real backstory, political machinations, or steadily brewing revolution, just a hundred teenagers walking until all but one of them dies.

How many boys are in the Long Walk?

On the first of May each year, one hundred teenage boys from all across America arrive in northeast Maine to compete in the Long Walk. For the winner: a life of luxury. For the ninety-nine losers: death on the road while America watches from the sidelines, literally and figuratively. In the hands of most other authors, this might make for an interesting short story, but King turns this simple premise into a novel that is utterly enthralling despite—or perhaps because of—its simplicity.

What sets Garraty apart from the other Walkers?

On the surface, the only significant thing about Garraty, the only thing that sets him apart from the other Walkers, is that he’s “Maine’s Own.”. While the race brings competitors from all over, it rarely makes it into out of Maine and into New Hampshire, and only once before has the Walk ever reached Massachusetts.

Who is the closest thing Garraty has in the Walk to a friend?

Peter McVries is the closest thing Garraty has in the Walk to a friend—the scar-faced kid eventually coming to terms with the suicidal tendencies that pushed him into the competition. Hank Olson starts the race as a strong, eager competitor, but exhaustion hollows him out until he’s little more than an ambling husk.

Who is the villain in the walk?

Gary Barkovitch is the villain of the piece, so vaudevillian in his vehement hatred of the other Walkers that you can’t help but be grossly entertained. At the start of the Walk, and the book, The Major is viewed by the boys as almost a heroic figure, an imposing man dressed in fatigues, who never removes his sunglasses.

Is the Long Walk slow?

The Long Walk is slow but enthralling, putting you right there on the road beside these boys, knowingly walking themselves to death. You watch as they come apart at the seams one step at a time, their own particular neuroses coming to the forefront just long enough to leave an impression and—more than likely—kill them.

Overview

The Long Walk of the Navajo, also called the Long Walk to Bosque Redondo (Navajo: Hwéeldi), was the 1864 deportation and attempted ethnic cleansing of the Navajo people by the United States federal government. Navajos were forced to walk from their land in what is now Arizona to eastern New Mexico. Some 53 different forced marches occurred between August 1864 and the end of 1866. Some anthropologists claim that the "collective trauma of the Long Walk...is critical to conte…

Introduction

The Long Walk

Bosque Redondo

Treaty of Bosque Redondo

Return and end of Long Walk

Legacy

See also