Ben'jamin
Mr. H Salsich
English9
14/11/10

The Long Walk by Steven King
Pages 1-70

The Long Walk is about a boy named Ray Garraty who embarks on the Long Walk, a kind of game where you just keep walking. The rules are simple, you keep walking, if you go below the speed of 4 miles an hour, stumble, or sit down, you get a warning, after three, well, you don't have to walk anymore. After only 7 miles, a boy named Curly gets a charlie horse, gets his three warnings, and the soldiers following in the half track open fire, "Curly's angular, pimply head disappeared in hammersmash of blood and... the rest of him fell forward on the white line and sack of mail." After 30 miles of walking, the group of 100 boys is getting thinner and Ray and his friends are starting to get tiered, but they know that they can't stop for anything.

This book is disturbing. The soldiers and the major who runs the program are so heartless, so evil, it is sickening. I could never walk 30+ miles without a rest so really can't appreciate how much pain the walkers must be in. This book has really made me think about pain and how easy we sometimes get off.