Stephen King: The Long Walk: Synopses Analysis

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Synopses Analysis for The Long Walk

Every synopsis I've seen has mistakes. It's difficult to write a short synopsis that will interest people in reading this book, and still be accurate.

Here is my 100% accurate short synopsis: In an alternate reality set in the 1970s, 100 males from age 13 to 18, meet once a year for the Long Walk. They walk until there is a single survivor. Each teenager has a two-minute timer that counts down when they fall below 4 mph in the correct direction. Once their timer reaches zero, they are shot dead by the soldiers who follow them. The final survivor gets anything they want for the rest of their lives, and a large sum of money.

Below are all of the synopses I've collected so far. Hover over the highlighted words to learn the truth.

  1. In the near futureIt's actually the an
    alternate reality 1970s Proof!    , where America has become a police statethe book never says this one hundred boysage range is 13-18 so some are adults are selectedThe walkers are chose at random
    from a Lottery
    Check out the Rules!     to enter an annual contest where the winner will be awarded whatever he wants for the rest of his life. The game is simple - maintain a steady walking pace of four miles per hour without stoppingIt's not so simple.
    Check out the Rules!    . Three warnings, and you're out - permanentlyNot true.
    Check out the Rules!    .
  2. Every year, on the first day of May, one hundred teenage boysage range is 13-18 so some are adults meet for an event known throughout the country as "The Long Walk." Among this year's chosen cropThey are chosen at random
    from a lottery.
    Check out the Rules!     is sixteen-year-old Ray Garraty. He knows the rules: that warnings are issued if you fall under speed, stumble, sit downWarnings are issued based on
    a walker's timer or
    breaking a rule like
    interfering with another walker.
    Check out the Rules!    . That after three warnings ... you get your ticketThey do not get a ticket
    when they get three warnings.
    Check out the Rules!    . And what happens then serves as a chilling reminder that there can be only one winner in the Walk — the one that survives ...
  3. In a futureIt's actually the an
    alternate reality 1970s Proof!     America, the marathonthere is no specific distance.
    It goes until there is one survivor.     is the ultimate sports competition - a novel of chilling macabre possibility.
  4. On the first day of May, 100 teenage boys meet for a raceIt's not about speed.
    There is no finish line.
    There is no specific distance.
    It goes until there is one survivor.     known as "The Long Walk." If you break the rules, you get three warningsIt's more complicated than this.
    Check out the Rules!    . If you exceed your limitIt's more complicated than this.
    Check out the Rules!    , what happens is absolutely terrifying...
  5. The Place: An Ultra-ConservativeThe book doesn't say this America of the not too distant futureIt's actually the an
    alternate reality 1970s Proof!    . The Event: The country's #1 sports contest, a grueling 450-mileThe walk goes until there
    is a single survivor.
    Check out the Rules!     marathonThere is no finish line.
    The walk goes until there
    is a single survivor.
    Check out the Rules!     walk, where a single misstep could be the last. The Competitors: The cream They are picked randomly from a lottery.
    Check out the Rules!
    These might be the worst youngsters.
    Check the lottery conspiracy theory     of the nation's youth, 100 red-blooded American boys out to make it to the top no matter who they trample on to get thereWalkers cannot interfere
    with each other's progress.
    Check out the Rules!    . The Price: A fortune in money, fame, and everything the heart desires for the one and only winner. But in a flawless society there are no losersThe book doesn't say this - because the New American GovernmentThe book doesn't say there
    is a new American government     knows how to bury its failuresThe book doesn't say this ...
  6. A terrifying vision of tomorrowIt's actually the an
    alternate reality 1970s Proof!     in the great tradition of RollerballIt's not a battle.
    Walkers cannot interfere
    with each other
    Check out the Rules!
  7. Each year, 100 of the finest youngsters They are picked randomly from a lottery.
    Check out the Rules!
    These might be the worst youngsters.
    Check the lottery conspiracy theory     from coast to coastThe route starts at the Canada/Maine border then
    heads down the East Coast toward Florida     joined the marathonthere is no specific distance.
    It goes until there is one survivor.     to keep the spirit of the New American GovernmentThe book doesn't say this alive ... But before the raceIt's not about speed.
    There is no finish line.
    There is no specific distance.
    It goes until there is one survivor.     was over, 99 of them would make the sacrifice of their lives.
  8. 100 teenage boysage range is 13-18 so some are adults are forcedThey volunteer to walk down the East Coast, starting at the Canada/Maine border, until there is only one contestant left standing. The walkers cannot stopThey can stop
    for short periods of time.
    Check out the Rules!    , accept aid from onlookersThe book is not clear on the penalty
    for accepting help from a spectator.
    At most, they would get a warning     or interfere with each otherThey can interfere with each other.
    They just get a warning.
    Check out the Rules!    , and if they slow down to under a pace of four miles an hour more than three times, they are shot deadThey are shot dead if their
    timer eaches zero, if they exit
    the road or if they attack
    a soldier.
    Check out the Rules!     by the soldiers patrolling alongside them.
  9. 100 young boys (under 18)age range is 13-18 so some are adults walk for as long as they can. The Walk starts in Maine, and usually ends somewhere around MarylandIt ends when there is only one teenager left alive.
    The Long Walk has never made it to Boston    . The twist is that if they walk under 4 MPH and are warned 3 times, or try to go into the crowd, they are shot on sightThey are not shot after
    being warned 3 times.
    Check out the Rules!     by patrolling soldiers. The last manAges from 13 to 18 alive wins the grand prize, which is whatever he wants for the rest of his lifeThey are also given a cash award.
  10. It focuses on a walking competition, in which 100 teenage boysage range is 13-18 so some are adults walk — to the death. That's it. It's literally 'last man standing', or last boy standingage range is 13-18 so some are adults, anyway. And the whole thing is televisedThere is NO TV coverage for the first half.
    It is televised from Augusta on.    , like one long marathon, only the stakes are much higher here. There will be only one winner, but also, only one survivor (and even the winner doesn't always survive for long, as the competitors reveal while discussing past champions). If a boy stops walking, he is given three warnings and then shotThey are not shot after
    3 warnings.
    Check out the Rules!     by one of the soldiers following the boys on their route. All of this is presided over by an enigmatic figure called the Major: Big BrotherBad comparison. The Long Walk
    cannot be compared to Big Brother
    in the novel 1984.     for 1960sThe book was written 1996/1967
    but revised in the 70s
    so it's really set in the 70s,
    then printed 1979.     America.
  11. The Long Walk is a dystopian novel concerning Ray Garraty, a sixteen-year-old who is participating in American's new pastimeThe book never says this
    We know the Long Walk has been
    going on for at least 17 years.    : the Long Walk. The rules are simpleNot exactly.
    Check out the Rules!     —each Walker must walk at a pace of no less than four miles an hour. If they slow down, they pay with their lifeThey do not pay with their life
    if they slow down.
    They get killed if
    their timer reaches zero.
    Check out the Rules!    .
  12. In the near futureIt's actually the an
    alternate reality 1970s Proof!    , when America has become a police stateThe book doesn't say this, one hundred boys are selectedThey are picked randomly from a lottery.
    Check out the Rules!     to enter an annual contest where the winner will be awarded whatever he wants for the rest of his life. Among them is sixteen-year-old Ray Garraty, and he knows the rules— keep a steady walking pace of four miles per hour without stoppingThey can go faster than 4 mph
    or they can go slower or stop
    for short periods of time.
    Check out the Rules!    . Three warnings and you're out—permanentlyA walker buys their ticket
    when their timer reaches zero.
    Not when they get 3 warnings.
    Check out the Rules!    .
  13. The novel takes place in an alternate future, where a despotic and totalitarian American government arranges an annual walking contest. 100 boys set out walking from Van Buren, Maine and must continue to walk at a speed of four miles an hour until all but one stops walking. The rub? Walkers who stop are shot dead on the spot. The last man standing has his every desire taken care of by the government for the rest of his life.
  14. 100 teenage boys are picked from a televised draft lottery by a despotic alternate-history version of the US army, and told to walk until they stop. If they drop below four miles an hour they get a warning. Three warnings and they're shot dead. Of the 100 who start the walk, only one survives, and he is granted the ultimate prize: anything he wants for the rest of his life.
  15. Set in a dystopian world run by totalitarianism, 100 boys meet for an annual race that has no definitive endpoint. The winner - that is, the last boy standing - gets a Prize at the very end, whatever his heart desires. Ostensibly, all these boys have to do is walk, but there's a catch or several given the strict rules that the contestants, called "Walkers," must follow. Specifically, the story tracks Raymond Garraty, a 16-year-old Walker, and the other teenagers that come in and out of his periphery as they quite literally walk to their demise.
  16. the book is about a grisly, murderous marathon sponsored by a dystopian government, which sees 100 young men begin walking from the Maine-Canada border at a steady pace of 5 kilometers per hour. The last man/boy who can keep his body walking is given the prize of his choice, for the rest of his life; the other 99 are given a ticket, which is the book's cheerfully euphemistic way of saying that they're gunned down by a waiting truck of dead-eyed soldiers.
  17. In the near futureIt's actually the an
    alternate reality 1970s Proof!    , every year, 100 teenage boysage range is 13-18 so some are adults are hand selectedThey are selected randomly
    from a lottery
    Check the rules for more details.     by the ColonelThe Major for a 400 milethere is no finish line
    Check the rules for more details.     raceIt's not about speed.
    There is no finish line.
    Check the rules for more details.     across the countryThe route starts at the Canada/Maine border then
    heads down the East Coast toward Florida     known as the long walk. The rules are simpleThe rules are not simple. They must walk at 3 mphThe speed limit is 4 mph.
    Check the rules for more details.    . They can't slow down, stumble, stop or sit downThey can do all of these things.
    Check the rules rules for more details.    . If they do, they get a warning.They might get a warning.
    Check the rules rules for more details.    . If they stop or slow down for another 10 secondsThere are 30 seconds between warnings.
    Check the rules for more details.    , they get a second warning. If they get a third warning, they get a ticketThey do not get a ticket on the third warning.
    They get a ticket when
    their timer reaches zero.
    Check the rules for more details.    . The winner gets anything they want. There can only be one winner, the sole survivor.
  18. The novel is set in the near future and centers on 100 teenage boys embarking on an annual competition known as "The Long Walk," during which participants must maintain a walking speed above four miles per hour. If they receive three warnings in an hour, they are shot dead. The last one walking gets whatever he wants for the rest of his life. The boys develop deep friendships despite knowing that each of their friends' survival is a threat to their own.
Date Created November 12, 2018
Last Updated June 17, 2022
Contact: patcoston@gmail.com