Warning: Major spoilers for The Long Walk aheadFrancis Lawrence’s dystopian survival movie The Long Walk is set in a desperate, desтιтute America with its origins in tragedy and violence. A direct adaptation of Stephen King’s 1979 novel of the same name, The Long Walk preserves the motifs and powerful themes of King’s original story, although there are some narrative departures that enhance the cinematic experience.

The gut-wrenching thriller stars Cooper Hoffman and David Jonsson as two of the young men selected to compete in a contest to the death, in which representatives from each state in America walk as far as they can, with the last man standing winning untold riches and one wish that must be granted. The contest is broadcast nationally, and is intended to inspire American workers to be productive.

The contest is reflective of the desperation that pervades the America depicted in The Long Walk. As the boys walk across the state of Maine in a non-descript, yet clearly recent time period, they are surrounded by signs of poverty and desolation, providing a vivid reminder of why they would risk their lives at 1-in-50 odds to earn financial security for themselves and their families.

There are only a few hints of what brought America to its knees, making walking compeтιтions to the death an acceptable form of motivation. However, some key clues from the villainous Major in charge of the contest paint a bleak picture of how America became so broken, and how long it’s been like that.

The Long Walk’s America Is Broken Thanks To A Devastating War 19 Years Earlier

When explaining the rules of the contest to the participants before they begin, the Major (Mark Hamill) notes that the contest has gone on for 19 years, ever since America was devastated by a terrible war. No further details about the conflict are given, but it’s made clear that the widespread economic depression that the country is mired in is a direct result of that war.

The America of The Long Walk may have suffered some sort of economic punishment after losing whatever conflict occurred, or perhaps shifted their economic priorities so significantly to feed the war machine that they were never able to recover. It’s unclear what sparked the depression, but judging by the context that the Major gives, it’s been going on for nearly two decades.

That means it’s the only world that the participants of The Long Walk have ever known, and helps provide some clarity as to why they would volunteer for a contest with poor odds and lethal consequences. After being raised in a country that glorifies the contest and frames it as the only way for the average person to ascend to wealth and comfort, it’s almost a no-brainer to enter the lottery.

As the contestants discuss on the Walk, none of them know of an eligible boy who didn’t enter the lottery. As Garraty notes, that essentially means they aren’t actually volunteering, or at least aren’t doing so out of neverending desperation, not free will. There is only the briefest morsel of justice for this at the end of The Long Walk, and it’s not clear if the contest will continue.

The boys grow up watching the Long Walk pitched as a source of inspiration, not only because the winner gains immeasurable wealth, but because it demonstrates the value of hard work, grit, and perseverance. The Major notes that there is a spike in productivity after the Long Walk airs, without fail, so in a morbid way the contest is effective in accomplishing its goal.

The America Of The Long Walk Has Historical Inspiration

Parallels can be made between the America of The Long Walk and post-WWI Germany, which sank into a depression following their defeat and harsh economic treatment in the war-ending Treaty of Versailles. Germany was forced to pay reparations which crippled the economy, was essentially forced to restructure its government, which led to instability, and was devastated by hyperinflation.

The America of The Long Walk could have been subjected to a similar situation, as that would certainly explain how what appears to be an extremist regime (the organization behind the Major) came to take control of the country. With no additional war (ex. the lead-up to WWII for Germany) or other outside circumstances to pull them out of depression, America has simply continued to exist in poverty.

The widespread economic devastation depicted in The Long Walk is obviously inspired by America’s real-world Great Depression, and the contest itself likely was as well. During the Great Depression, “dance marathons” grew in popularity, with some contests offering a year’s salary for those who could dance the longest. Like the Long Walk, these contests yielded exploitation and even death, in some cases.

The Long Walk novel was published on the heels of the Vietnam War, and it’s widely accepted that Stephen King imbued the participants of the Long Walk with the futility, anger, and hopelessness of the young men thrown into that conflict without a choice. The existential pointlessness of the conflict certainly seems to reflect that of the Long Walk, at least for 49 out of the 50 participants.

It’s also not hard to draw parallels between the country’s gross fascination with the Long Walk and overall spectator mentality, to today’s social media. The Americans of The Long Walk tune in to watch contestants walk to the death, which is a dark reflection of our current society’s fascination with spectacle and tragedy, all of which can be found on any phone or TV screen at will.