The Main’s Symbolism in The Lengthy Stroll Defined

Warning: Main spoilers for The Lengthy StrollMark Hamill’s villainous Main is maybe crucial character in Francis Lawrence’s The Lengthy Stroll with regards to understanding the film’s true that means. An adaptation of Stephen King’s 1979 novel of the identical identify, The Lengthy Stroll chronicles a strolling competitors to the demise that takes place in a twisted dystopian model of America.

Hamill’s mysterious Main is current all through the film, virtually lurking on the sides of the narrative, solely popping in often to remind the Walkers and the viewers of his omnipresence. The ending of The Lengthy Stroll lastly offers a giant second for The Main in what seems to be probably the most vital departures from King’s unique novel.

The Main, who is rarely given a reputation in both the novel or the film, has a paradoxical function within the narrative shared by the 2 iterations. He has only a few talking traces, and does little greater than shout hyper-masculine encouragement on the opponents from the again of a jeep. Nevertheless, he stays probably the most necessary figures within the narrative due to what he stands for.

The Main Represents Every little thing Incorrect With The World Of The Lengthy Stroll

Mark Hamill’s enigmatic Main is current on the very starting of the Lengthy Stroll; because the overseer of the competition, he explains the principles to the contributors and formally kicks off the competition. From that time ahead, he is an ever-present shadow that follows the Walkers on their grueling journey, leering coldly from behind a pair of sun shades.

With solely a nondescript army uniform and no identify, the Main nonetheless manages to be probably the most vital character in each the guide and film (except for the assorted Walkers). He’s the de facto villain of the story because the architect of the Lengthy Stroll, and his virtually sarcastic-sounding encouragement to the opponents punctuates the grisly deaths with a jagged exclamation level.

The Main is the true key to understanding the circumstances that result in one thing as horrific because the Lengthy Stroll contest even current. Regardless of having nearly no persona offered and only a few significant traces, the Main’s symbolic worth is large as a result of he acts as a illustration of a number of parts all on the similar time.

The conceited, roughneck encouragement he shouts on the boys as their comrades and associates die one after the other represents the poisonous masculinity that seems to be current in each side of American society. Following the battle 19 years earlier that introduced America to its knees, the ideas of onerous work, grit, dedication, and “sack”, because the Main says repeatedly, are the very best precedence.

Because the distributor of the profitable competitor’s prize cash and need, the Main additionally represents the twisted capitalist society that the Lengthy Stroll takes place in. The idea of financial motivation and the very distinct “bread and circuses” vibes to the nationally-televised contest. It offers false hope of monetary enchancment by dedication and willpower, when in actuality the contributors don’t have any actual selection, and just one has any actual hope.

The Lengthy Stroll – Key Evaluation Scores
RT Tomatometer	RT Popcornmeter	Metacritic Metascore	Metacritic Consumer Rating	IMDB Rating	Letterboxd Rating
90%	85%	71/100	6.3/10	7.5/10	3.7/5.0

Most significantly, the antagonism of the Main delivers a pointy critique of the risks of authoritarianism and untempered state management. The Main is the face of the federal government that has oppressed its residents to the purpose of eliminating freedom of expression and schooling, which is what the Main killed Ray Garraty’s father for. To grasp how the Lengthy Stroll might exist, one wants look no farther than The Main.

The Lengthy Stroll’s Twist Ending For The Main Is Higher Than His Destiny In The Ebook

Cooper Hoffman and David Jonsson as Ray Garraty and Pete McVries in The Long Walk — Cooper Hoffman and David Jonsson as Ray Garraty and Pete McVries in The Lengthy Stroll

In Stephen King’s 1979 novel, the Main has an analogous function as the competition’s overseer, however the place he’s on the finish of the narrative is vastly completely different. Within the novel, Ray is the Walker who finally ends up profitable the competition, and he’s saluted by the Main who seems after he wins. In his state of delirium, the Main seems to Ray as a darkish determine beckoning him ahead, embodying the specter of Dying that Ray had prevented.

Within the film, the Main has carefully tracked the 2 finalists in Ray and Peter McVries, and is the one who delivers the kill shot to the final Walker to fall, which is Ray within the film. Peter wins the Lengthy Stroll, and is congratulated personally by the Main, who additionally asks what Peter desires for his want.

Peter needs for a gun and promptly kills the Main, appearing out the revenge that Ray meant if he have been to win. Peter’s cold-blooded homicide of the Main proves that whereas he did not endure the identical bodily toll as the remainder of his comrades, the optimistic angle he maintained by a lot of the race has been torn asunder by the emotional toll of the competition’s cruelty.

The Main faces excessive penalties for all of the evil and oppression that his reign was constructed upon. The truth that he is executed by the character who most genuinely sees the sunshine that continues to be within the dystopian nightmare wherein he lives is a satisfying little bit of justice.

Regardless of a brutal upbringing, Peter created real bonds with boys who, by all rights, he ought to need lifeless. His skill to mine optimism and wonder from desperation and grief is what ought to prevail over the evil of the Main, and in the long run that is what occurs. That is a extra satisfying ending for the Main than his extra ambiguous ending in King’s unique model of The Lengthy Stroll.