“The Long Walk”: How We Live in Reality by Stephen King

The Dark Parable: “The Long Walk”

Imagine a competition where the participants have to go forward without stopping. If I stopped, I got a warning. Slowed down beyond measure — the following. Three warnings and you’re out. Forever. There is only one winner, and his prize is the fulfillment of any wish. For the rest, only exhaustion and death await. This is the essence of Stephen King’s novel The Long Walk, a dark parable about a pointless race for survival.
A movie was recently released. If you haven’t watched it, then I recommend watching it.
Well, or you can read a book… 👍

Our Reality: The Lifelong Walk

If you think about it, this dystopia is not such a fantastic mirror that reflects the lives of millions of people. It’s just that our “Walk” has been stretched out for decades, and the shots have been replaced by more mundane, but no less destructive mechanisms.

We are all willing participants in this race. From the very beginning — coming of age — we begin our movement. At first, we walk briskly, full of strength and hope. We get an education, find a job, and make plans. We believe that we will be able to outrun others, that we will get the “main prize” — financial freedom, a happy old age, and fulfillment.

But now the “Rules” of our real Walk come into force:

· Increased rate (inflation): Prices are rising faster than your income. To just stay in place, you need to constantly accelerate — work harder, earn more.
· Warnings (fines, debts, unforeseen expenses): A car broke down, a child got sick, the mortgage rate increased. Each such problem is a “warning” that forces you to go with even more stress, depleting your reserves.
· Taxes, levies, VAT: This is the invisible force that is constantly pulling you back. You go forward, conditionally earning 100 steps, but the system takes 10, 20, 30 steps back from you. Every year the load gets heavier, and the path gets steeper.

The Illusion of Choice and the Inevitable Outcome

And the scariest thing about this analogy is the illusion of choice. King’s characters went for a Walk voluntarily, tempted by the prize. And we also seem to choose this life ourselves: take out a loan, work hard, pay taxes. But the system is designed in such a way that, in fact, there is no alternative. To “drop out” of it means to be on the sidelines, in a social pit. So we keep going.

And in the end, just like in the book, the same outcome awaits everyone.

What to Do: Change Your Path

The vast majority of the “participants” end their Walk in the same way: they reach complete exhaustion — physically, emotionally, financially. They give their all just not to stop, and in the end they will be “eliminated” in the form of a poor pension, illnesses and the realization that their whole lives have been spent in exhausting movement for the sake of movement itself.

The “main prize” in the form of complete financial independence and a carefree life goes to a few. The system is not intended for the rest.

What should one do after realizing this eerie parallel?

The first step is to stop just walking with your head down. You need to look up and understand the rules of the game. The second is to try to change your “walking style.” Maybe get off the main highway and find your own, less congested trail? Invest, create passive income, and change your profession so that your work is valued more.

King’s “Long Walk” is not an instruction to humility, but a warning. It shows us the absurdity of life, where movement becomes an end in itself. To realize this means to get a chance not just to walk to exhaustion, but to start plotting your route to the real, not the promised finish line.