The Long Walk Chapter 8 Essay

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For our close reading assignment I decided to use the novel The Long Walk. Specifically, I chose to discuss chapter eight, where McVries saves Garraty. The novel reads ““Garraty! Garraty for God’s sake!” McVries was yelling. 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.
“Oh God,” Garraty gasped. “Oh Jesus Christ they’re killing me. I… I can’t…” He broke into loose, trickling laughter once more. His knees buckled. McVries ripped him to his feet once more. Garraty’s collar tore. They were both warned. That’s my last warning, Garraty thought dimly. I’m on my way to see that fabled farm. Sorry, Jan, I…
“Come on, you turkey, I can’t lug you!” McVries hissed.
“I can’t …show more content…

“Why did you do that? Why did you do that?” His eyes were as shiny and as blank as doorknobs. “I’d kill you if I could. I hate you. You’re gonna die, McVries. You wait and see. God’s gonna strike you dead for what you did. God’s gonna strike you dead as dogshit.” His voice was pallid and empty. Garraty could almost smell the shroud on him. He clapped his own hands over his mouth and moaned through them. The truth was that the smell of the shroud was on all of them.
“Piss on you,” McVries said calmly. “I pay my debts, that’s all.” He looked at Garraty. “We’re square, man. It’s the end, right?” He walked away, not hurrying, and was soon only another colored shirt about twenty yards ahead.
Garraty’s wind came back, but very slowly, and for a long time he was sure he could feel a stitch coming in his side… but at last that faded. McVries had saved his life. He had gone into hysterics, had a laughing jag, and McVries had saved him from going down. We’re square, man. It’s the end, right? All right.
“God will punish him,” Hank Olson was blaring with dead and unearthly assurance. “God will strike him down.”
“Shut up or I’ll strike you down myself,” Abraham said.” (King …show more content…

To me there is several different ways to understand why McVries saved Garraty. If it were me in a real life situation, I would have reacted liked Olson because Garraty is competition and everyone wants to win. The allegory that caught my eye in this paragraph however, was the idea that it is a team, but also an individual race. Just like track, for example, you want to win for your team, but also for yourself. I believe it comes down to the idea that McVries would rather Garraty win than someone random, or Barkovitch. If you and a friend were both racing the the 400 meter dash, you would most likely want to beat your friend, but you’d also rather your friend win than the other

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