The+Long+Walk+by+Stephen+King

//*~*~*~*THE LONG WALK*~*~*~* // A NOVEL BY STEPHEN KING Jen, Carlie, and Katherine

Important Character List:  
 * 1) Garraty- narrator
 * 2) McVries- his best friend
 * 3) Olson- cocky buff guy
 * 4) Baker- Southern guy w/ red flannel shirt
 * 5) Stebbins- mellow blonde guy; hasn't said anything; in back; endless supply of jelly sandwiches
 * 6) Barkovitch- annoying guy with The Plan
 * 7) Harkness- writes kids names down (wants to write book about Long Walk)
 * 8) Davidson- perverted kid
 * 9) Curly- first victim

Week 1 Carlie- A Katherine-D Jen- B/C

Summary- We started out our meeting by eating Carlie's delicious brownies and answering Katherine's questions. We all agreed that even though we only read to chapter 4, we love the book and can't put it down. One of the discussion questions asked if we would participate in the race. All three of us said no way. No prize could be worth what the boys in the story have to go through. Our discussion was great and we never ran out of things to talk about. We talked about which characters we liked and didn't like and why the boys want to be in the Long Walk. Our favorite characters are McVries and definitely Stebbins. All of us think that Stebbins and the main character, Garraty, are going to be one of the last walkers. We also discussed what the prize for the last Walker could be, we think it could be either money, power or whatever the winner wants it to be. After we answered the questions, we talked about our favorite character, Stebbins, and wondered why he is always eating jelly sandwiches. We can't wait to read the rest of the book and find out who wins The Long Walk.

Characters- The main character and narrator of The Long Walk is a 16 year old boy named Ray Garraty from Maine. He is one of the one hundred walkers that participate in the long walk. He is a very normal boy and doesn't seem to have any weird or special characteristics. We do not know too much about Garraty's past or why he wanted to take part in the Long Walk. So far he has become good friends with another walker named Peter McVries. Some other big characters are McVries and Stebbins. McVries is smart and funny and quickly becomes Garraty's best friend. Stebbins is a small and quiet character that never talks to anyone and stays towards the back of the group while eating a lot of jelly sandwiches. Garraty becomes very interested in Stebbins and wonders how such a small boy could possibly win The Long Walk. He is mentioned a lot and may become a very important character later in the story. One character that we cannot stand is Barkovitch. Barkovitch is an annoying walker that thinks he is better then everyone else and has supposedly has a great "plan" to win the walk

1. Who’s your favorite character and why? Jen and Carlie agree that Stebbins, the anti-social loaner of the group, is their favorite because he’s so mysterious and after walking for so long he’s the only boy out of the 100 who isn’t tired yet.

Katherine says McVries is her favorite character because he’s complex. He can be funny and loyal and a good friend, but there’s something about his character that his tortured, he can be dark and depressive, but at the same time he’s such a good friend to Garraty (protagonist) and saves his life several times throughout the walk. Also, the fact that he expresses a potential romantic interest in Garraty is interesting.

2. Who do you think is going to win and why? Jen says Garraty is going to win because he’s the main character. I agree with Jen. He is presented as this golden boy who is the “perfect” main character destined to win the contest. Carlie, however, thinks Stebbins is going to win because “usually the quiet mysterious guy ends up winning” quote carlie cattelona.

3. What do you think “the prize” is? Jen and Carlie both think the prize is an endless supply of jelly sandwichesor a t-shirt that says “I walked the long walk and all I got was this lousy t-shirt” or something else along the lines of the same irony. I think “the prize” is some kind of important government position, like “walk the long walk and become a king!”

4. Do you trust Stebbins? Carlie says yes because “he’s a trustworthy dude” Jen doesn’t thin he’s trustworthy because he always hangs around the back and doesn’t talk to anybody. Katherine is still on the fence.

5. Would you walk the long walk? The general consensus is “no…nothing in the world is worth it” because its basically a death sentence.

WEEK 2: Discussion Questions: 1) How do you think the fight between Barkovich and Rank lead specifically to his death> Because the fighting tired them out. 2) Has Stebbins become more important since the last time we read? Yes, because Stebbins has claimed he has seen the end of a long walk before. 3) Has your opinion on who will win changed, if so why? No, Garraty is the protagonist of the book and will most likely win. 4) Do you think the book will end on a good note for Garraty? Even if he wins, which will be good, the things he has seen were horrifying. 5) Do you think he will ever see his mother again, and why? Yes, because Garraty loves his mother and she will probably become his motivation
 * We read to page 147**

The language of The Long Walk is very straightforward and written for a high school reading level and up because the themes pertain to “coming of age” and there’s some slang. The dialogue is very contemporary and the descriptions sometimes use big words but generally it’s easy to understand and the whole book is a quick-read.

During our meeting, Carlie Jen enjoyed eating Jen’s homemade chocolate chip cookies! Then we went on to further discuss the book. Nothing much happened besides Barkovitch being the instrument of Rank’s death, earning the hatred of the other walkers. Carlie asked us several questions on our views of Ranks death and we answered, and concluded the meeting with a lengthy discussion on the character of Stebbins. We agree he’s quite crazy, but trustworthy? We’ll have to wait and see and further read the book.

Tasks for next week: food- katherine summary- carlie questions- jen

Week 3 Questions Summary (Carlie) In the third book club meeting, we discussed what happened from page 221 to 294. Jen asked the questions about the book, and Katherine brought in snacks. Theories as to who would win the Walk, and who would come in second were discussed. We also made the connection between The Long Walk and a segment of the fourth Harry Potter book, in which contestants of a tournament are asked complete a very large maze. They are warned that people and their priorities are changed by the maze. Although the beginning of the task starts out exhilarating, it soon becomes dangerous and savage. This idea runs parallel to The Walk, because as the it goes on, the characters begin to change our of a desperation to win.
 * 1) Do you think the reason McVries is in the Walk has to do with his ex girlfriend?
 * 2) Absolutely when he lost his girlfriend he lost the will to live
 * 3) Why do you think boys want to walk in the Long walk?
 * 4) They are stupid and think they want to win
 * 5) Not walking for the prize but to prove something
 * 6) What do you think happens when you get Squaded?
 * 7) We are uncertain what it is
 * 8) Does Garraty regret his decision to walk in the Long Walk?
 * 9) He probably starts to regret it but not as much as some other people. Either way there is nothing he can do about it
 * 10) What is the population’s opinion on the long walk?
 * 11) The other people don’t care cause they don’t have to walk it and they want a cheap thrill

Week 4 Carlie- A Katherine- D Jenny- B/C Themes The main themes of the book are Competition and Survival. The entire book is about the Long Walk competition. The characters must compete and out last each other because their lives depend on it. For survival, the boys must find ways to survive by conserving energy and drinking lots of water Images Their are not many objects in the book to represent symbols. Stebbins is always found eating a jelly sandwich during the walk and tends to hold them close to him. These sandwiched probably remind him of home and is a source of comfort for him. The guns carried by the soldiers represent fear and motivation. At this point in the story, the boys aren't walking to win the prize, they are walking because they dont want to be shot. The guns motivate the boys to try as hard as they can to keep on walking.

Summary Carlie brought in a pack of delicious Milano Cookies. Katherine was not here so we had no questions to discuss. Not much happened at this point in the story. The main event was that Garraty's good friend Scramm died and the boys decided that whoever won would send money to Scramm's wife and child. Carlie and I wondered why Scramm would risk is life to compete and leave his pregnant wife alone. We also still discuss why we think the boys are in the Long Walk.

Week 5 Questions- Carlie 1) What did you think of the ending? It was good, but it left some things unanswered. 2) How about when Stebbins revealed that he was the major's son? It was a good dramatic twist. 3) What happened to Garraty after he won? He completely lost himself and everything he cared about. He couldn't stop walking, so he started to run. 4) What did you think of the book? It was very suspenseful, and well written.

Our final book club meeting was very eventful. Jen brought in the infamous jelly sandwiches Stebbins was noted for eating throughout the book. We ate them, thought they were absolutely disgusting, and settled for some yummy brownies instead. The meeting began, and the general consensus was the book was good, thought-provoking and utterly depressing. We discussed, in detail, the deaths of our favorite characters. We were all fascinated with McVries death, and the meaning behind his final wink at Garraty before being shot. We were also disturbed by Barkovitch's suicide and the improbability that one is able to rip out their own throat using their bare hands. Also, we discussed the twist in the end where Stebbins is revealed to be the Majors son, and how we were all sad to see Stebbins die in the end (but it was slightly predictable.) Also, we were disturbed by Garraty's final moments in the book. He wins the contest, but the competition has rendered him insane and he continues to walk as if the competition were continuing...and he is never able to comprehend the fact that he's won....