Warning: Major spoilers for The Long WalkMark Hamill’s villainous Major is perhaps the most important character in Francis Lawrence’s The Long Walk when it comes to understanding the movie’s true meaning. An adaptation of Stephen King’s 1979 novel of the same name, The Long Walk chronicles a walking compeтιтion to the death that takes place in a twisted dystopian version of America.

Hamill’s mysterious Major is present throughout the movie, almost lurking on the edges of the narrative, only popping in occasionally to remind the Walkers and the audience of his omnipresence. The ending of The Long Walk finally provides a big moment for The Major in what turns out to be one of the most significant departures from King’s original novel.

The Major, who is never given a name in either the novel or the movie, has a paradoxical role in the narrative shared by the two iterations. He has very few speaking lines, and does little more than shout hyper-masculine encouragement at the compeтιтors from the back of a jeep. However, he remains one of the most important figures in the narrative because of what he stands for.

The Major Represents Everything Wrong With The World Of The Long Walk

Mark Hamill’s enigmatic Major is present at the very beginning of the Long Walk; as the overseer of the contest, he explains the rules to the participants and officially kicks off the contest. From that point forward, he’s an ever-present shadow that follows the Walkers on their grueling journey, leering coldly from behind a pair of sunglᴀsses.

With only a nondescript military uniform and no name, the Major still manages to be the most significant character in both the book and movie (aside from the various Walkers). He is the de facto villain of the story as the architect of the Long Walk, and his almost sarcastic-sounding encouragement to the compeтιтors punctuates the grisly deaths with a jagged exclamation point.

The Major is the real key to understanding the conditions that lead to something as horrific as the Long Walk contest even existing. Despite having virtually no personality presented and very few meaningful lines, the Major’s symbolic value is tremendous because he acts as a representation of several elements all at the same time.

The arrogant, roughneck encouragement he shouts at the boys as their comrades and friends die one by one represents the toxic masculinity that appears to be present in every aspect of American society. Following the war 19 years earlier that brought America to its knees, the concepts of hard work, grit, determination, and “sack”, as the Major says repeatedly, are the highest priority.

As the distributor of the winning compeтιтor’s prize money and wish, the Major also represents the twisted capitalist society that the Long Walk takes place in. The concept of economic motivation and the very distinct “bread and circuses” vibes to the nationally-televised contest. It provides false hope of financial improvement through determination and willpower, when in reality the participants have no real choice, and only one has any real hope.

Most importantly, the antagonism of the Major delivers a sharp critique of the dangers of authoritarianism and untempered state control. The Major is the face of the government that has oppressed its citizens to the point of eliminating freedom of expression and education, which is what the Major killed Ray Garraty’s father for. To understand how the Long Walk could exist, one needs look no farther than The Major.

The Long Walk’s Twist Ending For The Major Is Better Than His Fate In The Book

In Stephen King’s 1979 novel, the Major has a similar role as the contest’s overseer, but where he is at the end of the narrative is vastly different. In the novel, Ray is the Walker who ends up winning the contest, and he is saluted by the Major who appears after he wins. In his state of delirium, the Major appears to Ray as a dark figure beckoning him forward, embodying the specter of Death that Ray had avoided.

In the movie, the Major has closely tracked the two finalists in Ray and Peter McVries, and is the person who delivers the kill sH๏τ to the last Walker to fall, which is Ray in the movie. Peter wins the Long Walk, and is congratulated personally by the Major, who also asks what Peter wants for his wish.

Peter wishes for a gun and promptly kills the Major, acting out the revenge that Ray intended if he were to win. Peter’s cold-blooded murder of the Major proves that while he didn’t suffer the same physical toll as the rest of his comrades, the optimistic atтιтude he maintained through most of the race has been torn asunder by the emotional toll of the contest’s cruelty.

The Major faces extreme consequences for all the evil and oppression that his reign was built upon. The fact that he’s executed by the character who most genuinely sees the light that remains in the dystopian nightmare in which he lives is a satisfying bit of justice.

Despite a brutal upbringing, Peter created genuine bonds with boys who, by all rights, he should want ᴅᴇᴀᴅ. His ability to mine optimism and beauty from desperation and grief is what should prevail over the evil of the Major, and in the end that’s what happens. That’s a more satisfying ending for the Major than his more ambiguous ending in King’s original version of The Long Walk.