Chapter 7

In chapter 7, the narrator talks a lot about Garraty's father and how he was taken away by the soldiers. I thought this was interesting because it was one of the first instances that the author revealed something about the society outside of the walk. The narrator revealed that when Garraty was a kid, the soldiers had come to his house and taken away his father. Its been 11 years since, and Garraty has still not seen his Dad. The author never exactly says what his father was taken for, but he alludes to it. It states that, "It would have been good living if Jim Garraty could have kept his politics to himself" (171). Additionally, it says that "Jim Garraty had not been much of a Long Walk booster" (171). I think this means that Garraty's father was speaking out against the Long Walk and was punished for it. It reveals that The Long Walk takes place in some sort of totalitarian society where people aren't allowed to speak their mind and say things against the Government without being punished. I'm wondering if Garraty will follow in his father's path and rebel against the Long Walk too later in the story.