The Long Walk is finally out after decades of adaptation attempts. I found it an incredibly faithful translation of Stephen King’s original novel in spirit and mission statement. If you want some more of my thoughts, you can read my review here. But, the movie is making waves among the King faithful for its take on the ending of the story. So, I figured we should get into both the ending of the novel and the ending of the movie.
If you aren’t an illiterate doofus, you should know that means this will not tiptoe around any specifics. Consider that your warning, I guess.
The Long Walk Book Ending vs. Movie Ending
In the novel of The Long Walk, the last three competitors are protagonist Ray Garraty, Peter McVries, and Stebbins. This is reflected in the movie but it’s where the two stories start to diverge for their ending. In the novel and the movie, Garraty and McVries have developed a friendship that has helped them make it so far in the competition. McVries has previously told Garraty that he will sit down when he can’t go any further and let the soldiers execute him.
In the book, McVries does just that, leaving Garraty and Stebbins as the final two competitors. Stebbins eventually collapses and is also killed. Garraty is left as the winner of the Long Walk. Due to the delirium he’s succumbed to, Garraty continues walking after the contest is done and ends the story running away from the touch of the villainous Major.
The movie makes its most major changes to The Long Walk ending during this stretch. First, Stebbins is killed before Garraty or McVries. After a while, McVries decides to sit down and die so that Garraty can win. Garraty stops this from happening and sacrifices himself for McVries. His reasoning is that McVries will use his prize money and winning wish to do something that might affect change in this dystopian society.
For his winning wish, McVries is given a carbine rifle and shoots the Major dead, which is what Garraty said he was planning to do in revenge for the murder of his own father by the Major. McVries then continues to walk down the road in the rain.
Understanding Mediums And A Confirmed Alternate Ending
For the movie version of The Long Walk, I understand the reasoning behind the changes. First, for a movie that has built its entire back off the friendship that grows between Garraty and McVries, it makes all the sense in the world to have them be the last two competitors. As far as Garraty being the one who dies and McVries killing the Major, I also understand that as a much more accepting ending for a movie’s take on the story. It allows for a much more transactional bit of storytelling than the mental nightmare ending of the book. It also gives the audience a single bit of violent hope in an otherwise futile endeavor.
Now, I am eager to see the alternate ending that will be released on home video when The Long Walk hits 4K Blu-ray. Did they film a version of the book’s ending with Garraty surviving and not killing the Major? I can see that as an ending that would leave test audiences feeling unfulfilled, as if the story doesn’t satisfy the journey they’ve been on. That’s an easier trick to pull in a book than it is a movie, but if it does exist, I do want to see how it reads with the film’s riff on the story and characters.
I enjoy both The Long Walk book ending and movie ending for their respective mediums. I can see why it’s causing controversy simply for being such a strong deviation in the movie, but the book and its ending will always be there if I want to experience those. Still, you know I preordered that 4K Blu-ray.
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