Chapter 20- Quote Analysis

  For a moment he only stood there looking toward the sound of the ocean, which was very clear in the stillness.

    'You really ought to get off whatever hunger strike you are on, Mr Halleck,' he said without turning around. 'In many ways the world is nothing but a pile of shit. But it can also be very beautiful.

Billy cannot tell anyone outright about what has happened to him, because he would sound insane. It must be excruciating not to tell anyone, and throughout this chapter, Fander probably thought Bill was just obsessively trying to lose weight, but in retrospect, he is attempting to reverse a curse, which obviously, doesn't sound sane. This quote was relatively depressing, because Bill is trying all he can to not die from this, and someone just assumes that he does want to kill himself. 

Chapter 11

In chapter 11 it is reveled that Leda Rossington's husband, Cary. Instead of losing weight though, he's growing scales and turning into a reptile. I find this surprising...I didn't realize that the gypsies would go after other people in the case. I thought it would just be Billy, because he was the direct cause of the death.

Do you guys think that there may be other people involved in the case that have been cursed?
Do you think that the gypsies would take off the curse if they hunted them down?

I feel like I would be freaking out if I was cursed, but I feel like Billy isn't freaking out as much as he should have.

Similarities Between Billy Halleck and Cary Rossington

In chapter 11, Leda Rossington reveals that her husband, Cary Rossington, was also cursed by a gypsy, since he ensured that Billy Halleck wasn't punished for his crime. Instead of losing weight though, he's growing scales and turning into a reptile.

As Leda told the story of how Cary handled the situation I noticed a lot of similarities to the way that Billy handled being cursed by the gypsy. They both went through a stage of self-denial before eventually displaying self-awakening and recognizing what was going on.

At first, Billy refused to admit that he had been cursed by a gypsy, so he forced himself to think he had gotten cancer. Similarly, Cary Rossington believed that skin cancer was what was causing the scales on his skin to grow. He said to Leda, "This is skin cancer, skin cancer, skin cancer! Now will you for Christ's sweet sake shut up about that old wog!" (by the old wag he meant the gypsy who had cursed him). Then later on, both Halleck and Rossington started to come to terms with the fact that it was really the gypsies who were causing their situation. Both of their conditions are getting worse by the day so I'm interested to see what they're gonna do next. My guess is eventually they're going to try to track down the gypsy who cursed them.

The gypsy from the Thinner movie

Is Billy really to blame?

In the beginning of the book, Billy is consumed by his guilt for killing an innocent woman. He thinks about the accident constantly and it soon takes over his every thought. As the book progresses, Billy seems to feel less guilt about the incident and starts to think that his wife is responsible. He tells Hopley, "It was my wife's fault; because of what she was doing to me" (Chapter 12). Billy hit and killed the old gypsy woman with his car while his wife was giving him a hand job. He also goes on to blame the old gypsy woman claiming that "She came out from between two parked cars, didn't look either way. They teach you better in third grade" (Chapter 12). I find it confusing that Billy can go from being consumed by his guilt to blaming everyone else involved besides himself. I was reading this article about psychology and how people tend to deal with guilt and it reminded me of Billy. According to Mother Me, (excuse the weird name, it's actually a pretty interesting article) the first stage of guilt is feeling apologetic. Billy was definitely apologetic in the beginning of the book. He was not only haunted by the memory of the gypsy woman, but he felt guilty for putting his family in a bad position. He had given his family a bad reputation and Linda was ostracized at school. He tells Linda, "I heard you've been getting some pretty rough handling from the other kids. I'm sorry about that" (Chapter 1). Billy was enduring the first stage of guilt with his apologetic mindset toward everyone. But by chapter 12 he has transitioned to a combination of stage 2 and 3: defensiveness and the tendency to make excuses. He blames the gypsy and his wife and refuses to believe that he is responsible. The next step is absentmindedness, which I can envision Billy doing. He will probably try to suppress his memories of the incident by binge eating. Do you think Billy should be blamed for the accident? Or is his redirecting of the blame toward others justified?

Effects of the Curse on Billy

Aside from the physical effect of losing weight, I noticed that the curse is changing Billy a lot as a person. He seems really pissed off about his situation, especially since the weight loss is starting to occur at a faster rate, and its reflecting in his personality. He's now a more angry and hateful person then he was before he was cursed. He has an overall negative outlook and says that nobody is complimenting him on weight loss anymore and he's sure everyone is talking about him behind his back. He thinks everyone believes he has cancer or some sort of disease and the problem with his pants falling down in court only made him angrier.
He even starts to hate Heidi and he continues to avoid telling her what is truly causing his weight loss, mainly because he feels she's party responsible for his situation. 
I think that because Billy is mad about the fact that he's been cursed by the gypsy, he wants to blame it on somebody else; so he chooses Heidi. It says, "For one moment . . . he felt a sudden savage moment of hate for her" (75). He knows that is Heidi wasn't giving him a handjob and distracting him for driving he wouldn't have hit the gypsy. It explicitly says that Billy thought, "If Heidi hadn't picked that day to try out a little auto eroticism, Halleck would have been on top of his job and his responsibility as the operator of a motor vehicle, and {they}would have stopped at least five feet from the gypsy woman" (77). Even though I think Halleck accepts part of the responsibility, I think he's trying to dump the blame of Heidi so he can say its somebody else's fault. He didn't do anything to stop her in the car, so its also his fault.
Overall, you can see that the curse is taking a toll on Billy and he's becoming a lot more negative and he's assuming the worst. 

Chapter 10

I do not really understand Leda's toward Billy. She seems to hate the fact that Billy hit the gypsy with the car, and she is trying to prevent him from speaking to Cary. But it also doesn't seem as important as he makes it out to be to speak to him. Leda is also a bit sketchy as well, instead of laughing about him having a curse from a gypsy, she simply keeps pressing information from him and becomes upset.

What is King Saying About Society?

I feel like Thinner is intended to be satirical. He depicts each character in an equally unlikable way. Most authors present the protagonist as a likable character who the readers tend to root for. However, Billy is selfish and pretty disgusting. His top priority seems to be food. Every other sentence is about some different food Billy is eating. "During his commute home on Tuesday, he pulled off the Connecticut Turnpike at Norwalk and picked up a couple of Whoppers with cheese at the Burger King there. He began eating them the way he always ate when he was driving, just working his way through them, mashing them up, swallowing them down bite by bite" (Chapter 5). Billy obviously has an eating problem and he lives in a constant cycle of saying that he will stop eating junk food but never does so. King presents Billy as a character who has no control over his excessive eating and is the stereotypical American. Americans are often associated with being fat and loving fast food and Billy perfectly embodies that stereotype. His wife, Heidi, is the typical house wife. She cooks, cleans, and waits on her man's every need. And their daughter, Linda, is the typical teenage girl who cheers and struggles with all that high school drama. King gives this average family a twist by having the father hit and kill an old gypsy with his car. Why do you think King creates the stereotypical American family? Do you think he is being satirical and criticizing society?

Chapters 6-7: Meeting With Doctor Houston

In these chapters, Billy Halleck met with Doctor Houston to discuss his weight loss. Through blood testing, the Doctor was able to confirm that Billy did not have cancer like he thought he did. Houston couldn't find any reason that could have caused the loss. Instead of being worried over this, however, he just said that things happen that he can't explain all the time. He tells him a story about a boy who had almost no brain whatsoever, but was still top of his class at George Washington University, and another story about an 88 year old woman growing a third set of teeth, and tries to relate Halleck's situation to theirs.

I would think that a Doctor should be more concerned if someone as overweight as Billy just randomly lost a lot of weight without trying to. The Doctor really didn't seem to care about anything though; he even offered Billy cocaine which seems really strange for a Doctor of all people to do.

Before leaving, Billy says, "You don't know why I'm losing weight." Houston says "Nope," sounding "pleased by the fact" (60). He says that sometimes he just gives people a diet to lose a few pounds, but they end up losing a lot more than that and that's probably similar to what happened to Billy (61).

I guess I can't blame Doctor Houston for not being able to diagnose that Halleck was cursed by a Gypsy, but I at least think he should have cared more. 

Billy claimed that the meeting made him feel so much better, but all of chapter 7 is just Billy having a nightmare involving Houston as a skeleton chasing him, trying to offer him the toot-sweet he did at their meeting, so clearly he's still worried after the meeting.

Houston also claimed that Billy's weight loss was going to start tapering off, but we know that that's not going to happen.

Thinner- Chapter 1

From what I gathered, Bill Halleck got away with manslaughter, but the person he hit was an old gypsy woman, and someone (a gypsy) tried to tack revenge on him. He seems to try to block out his problems, and he's a little strange when it comes to describing Linda. I'm not really too sure as to what is happening to her. Is she being made fun of because her father killed an old woman?

Thinner: First Thoughts

Okay Stephen King is so strange. 

The first 5 chapters of this book are very disturbing. The words he uses to describe the story are so real and adult like. I think that because this story is in an adult's perspective, it's going to seem more mature and less scattered. 

I feel like the Long Walk was less plot and more depth and this story has more of a plot line. 

One thing I'm wondering, is Billy going to try and find the gypsies that cursed him? Or is he just going to deal with it? 

Right now it's unclear how Billy is going to handle this situation, and I'm curious to see what he is going to do. 

What do you guys think? 

First Reading of Thinner: Chapters 1-5

So far, I really like 'Thinner." I think that in comparison to the Long Walk, its a lot more detailed and descriptive and more adult-oriented. I think its different that the protagonist is an older guy with a child because in almost all books I've read, the protagonist is either a teenager or a young adult. 
By the end of chapter 5, Billy Halleck starts to accept the fact that he's been cursed by the gypsy man after he killed the gypsy woman by hitting her with his car. Billy believes that the man cursed him with cancer, and that's whats causing his rapid weight loss. He thinks to himself "Cancer, sure, you bet that's it. He cursed me somehow . . . Could cancer be eating into my guts right now, eating me inside, the way his nose . . . ?" (41). I don't think he's right about having cancer, but he's definitely has been cursed somehow; within the first 5 chapters alone he's already lost more than 20 pounds.
I also think that's it weird that Billy refuses to share his ideas about the reasons behind his weight loss with his wife. Shes very confused and worried about him and she insists that the weight loss couldn't have simply come from exercise. Billy never tells her, though, that he's sure hes been cursed. She's forcing him to make an appointment with Doctor Houston, so I'm interested to see how he's going to react to Billy's condition and what he's going to say caused it.
I think that this is only the beginning of Billy's weight loss. The chapter's are named after Billy's weight, and the number continues to go down. Chapter 1 is named "248", while Chapter 5 is named "221". I think the numbers are going to keep going down until they are dangerously low.   

Billy Halleck from the "Thinner" movie:

First Thoughts on Chapters 1-5 of Thinner by Stephen King

Although I find the book to be a little odd and disturbingly specific so far, I think the plot is very interesting and cool. It has not been directly stated, but the reader can imply that the main character, Billy, accidentally hit and killed an elder woman with his car. He obviously is haunted by the accident as he has constant flashbacks of the day it all happened. Billy describes the woman as this odd, gypsy type. Afterward, he recalls a gypsy man approaching him and telling him that he is cursed for killing the old woman.

Billy has been exempt from his charges due to the connections he has with the people of the town court. He seems to pretend like he is fine and happy but is actually the exact opposite. The same goes for the rest of his family. His daughter, Linda, is the talk of her school after her father killed an old lady. Linda maintains her daily routine of cheer and school but her father's accident has isolated her from her peers. Billy's wife, Heidi, seems the best at concealing her true emotions. Billy says that she is all smiles for the family but she smokes a pack and a half everyday to calm herself. The one time that Heidi isn't smiling, Billy "imagined her wearing a sign: MY SMILER IS TEMPORARILY OUT OF ORDER" (2). This is pretty sad but reveals how robotic and fake Heidi's happiness is. Lastly, Billy acts like he is fine but is still tormented by the guilt. He constantly recalls hitting the old woman, even during sex with his wife, the gypsy lady is all he can think about. Additionally, he is constantly badgered by his wife and "friends" about his weight. He is insecure about his weight, constantly sucking in his gut. It doesn't help that his friends are always pointing out that he is overweight. But when his client asks him if he is okay, he replies "I'm so okay you wouldn't believe it" (3). Based on his thoughts, the statement appears to be a lie. Each of these characters are struggling but cover up their unhappiness. My prediction is that the characters will start to fall apart and their true feelings will be revealed. It reminds me a little of Long Day's Journey into Night (#throwback) because each member of the family had their own personal issues that ended up dividing the family.

The posts from this point on will be about Thinner since we have finished the Long Walk (just to clarify for Kindel).

The People

The spectators during the Long Walk were ruthless. Like McVries had said, it was just kind of like entertainkment to them as compared to the reality which was 99 of these boys were going to be shot dead. They cheered as if it was football game of some sort

The Point

I know there is a prize at the end of The Walk, but overall, what is the point of having 100 boys walk till they drop? Is there a specific purpose, besides the prize?

Photo

I thought Garraty was a zombie at first, but I think that is what the artist is trying to portray.

The Ending

The ending was trivial because Garraty seems as though he's going to give up, but he is the main character, so that cannot necessarily happen. I think Stebbins has something to do with Garraty's continuing, as do all of the rest of the boys. He might feel as though he has to continue walking for all of them/. You can especially see this when he is talking, or reciting each of their names. But I would also like to know if he won or not. And what happens when both Walkers finish without dying.

Chapter 17

It was to be inferred that Stebbins had a connection with knowing so much about the Long Walk, and it was not particularly too surprising to learn that he was the Major's son. But I was not sure whether or not Stebbins was trained by the Major or if he had any special advantages that the Msjor gave him, like he didn't have to die?

Stebbins

Stebbins seems like knows what he's doing, and has remained fairly consistent throughout the story so far. Garraty is annoyed, and sometimes scared by, He has a good technique going, but I think it's mostly mental rather than physical. He also far-fetched philosophies that seem to pertain exactly to the situation. When he is talking to Garraty about Olson, he says, "'But suppose you told the housewife; today you must walk sixteen miles before you can have your supper.' Garraty nodded, 'She'd be exhausted instead of tired.' Stebbins said nothing. Garraty had the perverse feeling that Stebbins was disappointed in him." He also seems to enjoy these riddles, that make Garraty think.

The Ending

We all agree that the book had a very abrupt ending. It seemed like there should be more to the story. However, as I was thinking about it more, I think that the ending fits the story. The story itself is the entirety of this competetion. As soon as Ray is the last one standing, the Walk is over, and therefore, the story is over. 
Of course, the inner me is always looking for some closure, and a happy ending where Ray gives the prize to his family or he becomes a famous person in their society... but I also kind of like the idea of just leaving the ending at the finish line. 
Stephen King leaves the ending for interpretation. 
The way I saw it was that Garraty had become consumed by the Walk that by the time he won it, he couldn't stop. The rules had become his reality. 
In the last chapter i t says, "Stebbins was dead. But Ray lost interest. He just kept walking."
It was interesting to me that he kept on walking even though he has clearly won the Walk. And then as he kept walking he said, "There was a jeep roaring up ahead. No vehicals on the road you damn fool. That's a capital offense, they can shoot you for that."   I found this so weird. The Walk brainwashed him. Did you guys notice this? What are your thoughts?

Chapter 18: The Ending

***Spoilers***

In chapter 18, Stebbins passes out and dies. Ray becomes the winner of the walk. I found it somewhat disturbing and inhumane how the crowd reacted joyously at the death of Stebbins. I also found it interesting that Ray recalls a hand touching his should, congratulatory, then he "somehow finds the strength to run" (322). And that's the last line of the book. It doesn't hint as to where he goes or why he does it. I'm not sure why he would run away since he won. He had ran just as the Major was approaching him, "ready to grant first wish, every wish, any wish, death wish. The Prize" (321). Ray fought so hard throughout the walk in hopes of seeing his girlfriend and mother again and we don't even get to find out if he does. We don't know if he dies, where he ran off to, if he gets his wish, etc. The ending really frustrates me. I hate how it's so vague and leaves a lot to the imagination. I would've preferred closure and specific details. What did you think of the ending? What do you think happened to Ray?

McVries' Death in Chapter 18

McVries had said from early on in the book that eventually he would just sit down when he was too tired. I didn't think he would actually do this, especially when there was only three people left in the walk. Some of the other guys went on until they were crawling on the ground and they just couldn't move anymore, which is what I thought McVries would have done. Instead, he just said, "No, Ray, its time to sit down," and then he did (367). 

When he did sit down, and after the soldiers were ready to shoot him, Garraty said "No! Me! Me! Shoot Me!" (367). This surprised me because McVries is somebody that he's only known for five days. Garraty had walked very far (they were approaching Boston at this time) and he wanted to win really badly, so it shows how much he liked McVries that he was willing to give his life for him. I know McVries had saved Garraty's life twice already, and Garraty was probably trying to return the favor, but it still was a really big act on Garraty's part.

Here's a drawing somebody made of the scene:

Chapter 17: Stebbins the Rabbit

I was really surprised by Stebbins' confession that he's the son of the major. I had a feeling he had some of secret to hide, since no one expected him to make it very far, but I never would have guessed that. He claimed that he thought the major didn't know who he was because he has tons of children with different women. He later says that the major actually did know who he was all along. He somehow knew that Stebbins would last a very long time in the walk and that he would motivate all the other walkers to walk longer. Stebbins then makes an analogy and compares himself to a rabbit, which I thought was interesting. He says that in the old days, mechanical rabbits were used in dog races to motivate the dogs to run faster. He says "no matter how fast the dogs run, they can never quite catch the rabbit" (356). Because of this, the major made Stebbins into the Long Walk's version of the rabbit in order to make the walk last as long as possible. Stebbins says "He made me into his rabbit. A little gray rabbit to make the rest of the dogs run faster . . . and further. And I guess it worked. We're going to make it into Massachusetts." A Long Walk had not made it into Massachusetts for 17 years.
I was not only surprised by this, but also a little confused. I don't understand how the major could have known that Stebbins would last so long. Also, I was confused as to how Stebbins felt about being the rabbit. He said that if he wins, for his prize he was going to ask to be "taken into {his} father's house" (357). I don't know exactly what he plans to do when he would go into his father's house and I can't tell if he's mad at the major or not. 
By the end of chapter 17, only three walkers are still going; Garraty, McVries and Stebbins. I'm interested to see how much longer Stebbins can keep walking. 

McVries Character Analysis

As the book progresses, McVries develops into a more significant character. He is very blunt and always picking a fight, making him a character rather difficult to like. However, he has become close friends with Ray Garraty throughout the course of the walk and a different side of him has been revealed. Ray starts laughing hysterically when the walkers pass by a large group of civilians who are watching and cheering. He goes a bit insane and laughs so hard he can't walk. He practically collapses to the ground. He earns all three of his warnings and is about to be killed when McVries comes to his rescue. McVries was yelling at him to get up and then "he got an arm around Garraty's back and hooked a hand into his armpit. Somehow he yanked him to his feet and Garraty stumbled on" (225). The other boys screamed at McVries saying that he will go to hell for this. McVries is competing against Ray yet he went out of his way to save him. When Ray tries to confront him about it and thank him, McVries snaps and tells him to never mention it again. It seems like he tries to convey a cold and careless exterior but he genuinely cares for Ray and was willing to help him. Although I don't like McVries, his actions show that he is a somewhat respectable character.

Chapter 14-15: Stebbins & Barkovitch

Stebbins:

I think that Stebbins was completely underestimated. In the beggining of the walk, Garraty was talking about how he didn't think Stebbins would last long before he had even talked to him. He even thought that Stebbins would be the first one eliminated. In chapter 15, with less than a quarter of the original walkers still alive, Stebbins is still going, and he said that he felt he could "walk all the way to Flordia" (322). He also seems to be the most determined to win out of all the walkers. While others, like McVries, are helping out their friends (he saved Garraty's life twice), Stebbins is only looking out for himself. He stays in the back and dosen't waste any energy. Also, he knows how to get in the other walkers heads and drive them crazy, which he uses to his advantage. For example, he knew that the chance of seeing Jan in Freeport was the only thing keeping Garraty going, so he told him that he wouldn't be able to see Jan in the crowd because "the cops'll be too busy holding everybody back to get her through to the front" (321). This kills Garraty's motivation and causes him to lose focus. I think because Stebbins is determined, and he has a strategy to win, he's going to go really far and probably win if Garraty dosen't.

Barkovitch:

Barkovitch was made out to be the antagonist of the story from the start. McVries labels him as a killer because his actions led to Rank's death. Barkovitch always said mean things to the other walkers, such as telling them that he's going to dance on their graves after they're killed. I can't tell if Barkovitch is completely a bad person, or if there's some good in him. While he seems completely bad at first glance, every one in a while he seems to open up to Ray and he confesses that he dosen't want to be the way he is. For example, in chapter 14, Barkovitch broke down and started whining to Ray, saying "Don't hate me," and "I'll be sorry" (310). It seemed like for a second he was regretting the things he had said, but moments later he went back to being his usual self. Also, earlier in the story, he tried telling Garraty that he was really a good guy, but he had just gotten off on the wrong foot with the other walkers. He also said, "I never had much of a crowd back home" and "I used to carry a switchblade back at my high school on account of guys wanting to tear my ass," (271). I think because outside of the walk, he has no friends and he's used to people beating him up and picking on him, he trys to act tough and mean during the walk to keep the other walkers from treating him like he gets treated at home. Then again, at the time he was killed in chapter 14, he stilled seemed to be the same way he was at the start. Do you think Barkovitch is truly a bad person, or is there some good in him?

The Long Walk as a Movie

I was reading an article about how The Long Walk would be a great and easy to make movie. It said that the other novels in Stephen King's "Bachman Books" series have already been made into movies, so it would make sense to also also make the Long Walk into a movie. It says that all you would really need is a road, some teenage actors and a half track.
Even though I think a Long Walk film would be really dramatic, I don't think the book should be made into a movie. I think the psychological aspect of the book is what makes it worth reading, and it would be hard to convey that in the movie. Its cool that you're able to get into the guys heads, especially Garraty's, and see what they're thinking while going through the walk. In a movie, which just has dialogue, you wouldn't be able to see this. When the boys are actually talking to each other they're usually fighting and calling each other names, so thats probably all you would see in a movie. 

Here's the link to the article I was reading:
 https://thedissolve.com/features/movie-this-book/49-why-stephen-kings-the-long-walk-is-ripe-for-adapta/

Short Video

If you go to 1:20 this man brings up The Long Walk.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MkufXjF4zWQ

I think what he says it interesting. It's brief, but he says something that i never really thought about. He says, "It explores the cruilty of adolesence."

I never thought about the book this way. I looked at it like it was merely a creepy distopian novel, but it's more about adolesence and exploring teenagers. I think this is really cool. It goes back to one of my previous posts about looking into the kids' brains and seeing what they're made of. Apparently, that is the basis of this book. Did any of you guys realize this while reading?

Chapter 11

As more and more people are dying during The Long Walk, you start to see the stronger people emerging. Earlier in the book, it was difficult to differentiate the weak from the strong. But now that we're getting deeper into the walk, the stronger are emerging.

I found this graph online and I though it was interesting. It shows the pattern of the fallen people in The Long Walk. It shows how the stronger people are lasting longer. 

For ecample, in Chapter 11, Parker says, "I still want to live. So do you, don't sh*t me, Garraty. you and that guy McVires can walk down the road and bullsh*t the universe and each other, so what, it's all a bunch of phony crap but it passes time. . . The bottome line is that you want to live, so do most others. They'll die slow. they'll die one piece at a time."

At this point the reader, and the boys within the story are starting to see the weak and the strong. It's only a matter of time before the strongest wins the Walk.