What really strikes me about this book is that the Long Walk is this horrible, scary event but it considered so casual in the eyes of the walkers. These 100 walkers are well aware that 99 of them will be brutally killed while the 1 remaining will be in poor health and probably insane. In spite of this, they all seem to be very calm and casual about the whole event. I'm not sure if they all are actually afraid and are internalizing their feelings or if they really aren't scared.
In chapter 3, McVries and Garraty are walking and talking when McVries offers Garraty a cigarette. He politely declines and then they both talk about smoking and how they don't like it (166). It shocks me that they can have these casual conversations like they are two people chatting outside a restaurant. But that is not the case whatsoever, they are both involved in this competition where their lives are greatly at risk. The fact that McVries is smoking is also shocking. If I had to be on this long walk I would be trying to conserve all my energy and not waste my endurance by smoking.
I think this calmness is because all of them are very aware of what is to come. They all have grown up in this society and have learned what this walk entails. It's kind of creepy, honestly. They're all incredibly aware of the outcome of this walk, but the society and the way they were raised made them not quite as stressed out.
ReplyDelete