The Long Walk Literary Elements

Horror, Young Adult Fiction

The novel is set in a dystopian country that resembles America.

The point of view is third-person limited, the narrator generally being Ray.

Foreboding, hopeless

The protagonist is Ray, the unlikely winner of the walk. The antagonist is the Major, the sociopathic controller of the walk and the person who has the final say over who lives and who dies.

The main conflict of the novel is the Walk itself - Ray competing against the other boys to win the prize.

The climax is Ray's victory at the end of the walk.

When Pearson lies down in the field it foreshadows his death because none of the competitors are allowed to take a break of any kind.

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There are allusions to present day Las Vegas in the novel, suggesting that even in a dystopian society the world capital of the gambling industry still exists.

The imagery is centered around the appearance of the competitors, as each of them is described in a way that enables the reader to picture both their physical decline, which is actually described, and also their mental decline, which is implied as a reflection of their physical state.

The most beautiful of the competitors is Davidson, who is shot in the face by soldiers; the blood pouring down his face seems paradoxical because his face was previously outstandingly handsome.

There is a parallel between the stage of the walk and the mental state of the participants; the further into the walk the men get, the more likely they are to go mad.

The Musketeer Group refers to the individual walkers who have become part of this group of friends.

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