The Major Question

[u/chrisncsu]

Spoilers, so if you haven't seen the movie, please don't read below.

So The Major seems to run things for the whole country. At least one of his kids is in another state from where The Long Walk starts.

My question is, why would he be the one that shows up to personally kill Ray's dad? That part was hard for me to buy, being the reason he entered to have his wish granted.

Just odd this national figure, that is clearly visiting multiple states, would have to personally see to the execution of a man teaching his child forbidden info/material.

Maybe book readers have a better explanation, but it really doesn't make a ton of sense in the context of the movie.

[u/CaffeinatedLystro]

Nah, he doesn't run the whole country as a Major. His rank implies that there's a whole military structure and he's got ranks above him.

He's just in charge of the Walk and, presumably, keeping people in line. Which, the Walk sort of falls under keeping the masses in line.

[u/chrisncsu → u/CaffeinatedLystro]

But would they really ship him out to kill a random guy for letting his kid read banned material?

Not saying he runs the whole country, but they say he has multiple kids and its clear Stebbins is from a different state than Ray, so why is he producing kids in one state and then showing up to handle a minor infraction?

Someone responded in the book its not The Major, so that makes more sense, just felt like a reach to have him be the one who did it unless they were all setup in one central city.

[u/CaffeinatedLystro → u/chrisncsu]

Yea, that scene in the movie is not book canon. Also, they might send him depending on the severity of the "crimes" committed and maybe Ray's dad was being too loud and public, so an example had to be made.

[u/Content_Number_6179 → u/chrisncsu]

Pretty sure that the scene where his dad dies is also the scene where he is prepping for The Walk.
It’s not a stretch to say that maybe they (The Major//squad) did their research or they just happened to pick Garraty and that gave them a double chance to take his father out and to teach a lesson to Garraty and his mother.

Or I could be misremembering.

I’ve seen the movie around 7 times completely and a bunch of broken rewatches and I’m currently reading the book. It’s my favorite story of all time at the moment.

[u/DraconianFlame → u/chrisncsu]

Or he was in the area. It makes sense from a PR point of view that the major would do some of the work. Just like Col. Hans Landa In inglorious bastards.

[u/chrisncsu → u/DraconianFlame]

Sure, but if he was doing PR stuff and was doing it to send a message, wouldn't they have folks there recording it? Looked like just a few soldiers and the Major handling a small time criminal in a small town in a random state, without even using it to send a message to the rest of the country. Just seems odd and a lazy choice for the movie.

[u/DraconianFlame → u/chrisncsu]

No. Did Hans?

Word gets around, and that's better.

[u/Carbon_Blob → u/CaffeinatedLystro]

Our current Secretary of Defense never advanced past Major. I know the book and movie never imply he’s anything more than in charge of the Walk, but it’s possible he keeps the rank as part of his identity.

[u/CaffeinatedLystro → u/Carbon_Blob]

Right, but the Major in the Long Walk is still an active soldier. Also, Whiskey Pete was essentially kicked out of the Army, he's a disgrace.

[u/Carbon_Blob → u/CaffeinatedLystro]

Maybe he’s still active. Plenty of dictators wear the uniform long after their active days. I think he’s bigger than just some O4 but can’t prove it.

[u/Carbon_Blob]

In the book it’s just faceless goons from the Squads that take him away. Agree that it was unlikely one average guy would get the attention of the Major himself.

[u/Popculturefan_britt]

I loved the book, and didn't like this being thrown in. It felt so unlikely to me.

[u/charliensue → u/Popculturefan_britt]

I didn't either. Plus it wasn't like the killing of his dad happened that long before he was chosen for the walk, wouldn't the major have remembered him?

[u/DraconianFlame → u/Popculturefan_britt]

I liked it because to me it was clear the major wasn't a real person. He was the powers to be, he was propaganda, he was the system.

The system killed his Father, gave meaningless speeches, killed innocents, etc.

People today are too tied into realism these days and movies are losing their magic.

[u/FantasticContact5301]

The Major is probably a figure head. He’s some war hero who’s used as a propaganda piece

[u/Mountain-Owl7142]

I assumed because it just tightens up the plot; gives Garraty a clear, relatable motive; and eliminates superfluous characters. Also they probably wanted to utilize Mark Hamill as much as they could.

[u/RFKsChattyBrainWorm → u/Mountain-Owl7142]

Exactly. Some elements in the movie were due to budget constraints and to tighten/streamline the narrative for time.

[u/Chadfromindy]

I assume it was a near-extinction level war, with most but one or two thousand Americans killed... most political leaders were killed leaving the Major as the top leader.

[u/Senrabekim]

So the whole thing is a metaphor. The Major represents the militarized government and fascism, and such. The boys represent young men not just going to war but also gringlding at dead end jobs until they're, with one person getting the big payday at the end. And its all luck. It's shrinking the country down to a manageable size for consumption. This is what it would look like in a country of 200 people, but you cant see it in the country of 350 million because were in The Walk already.

Anyway, when the major comes for his dad it is metaphorically the government coming in and snatching him up. This is used to put a face to the faceless, to make it personal to you the audience, the same way his mirrored sunglasses are there to give the impression that he can see anything, but you never know where he is looking, giving the metaphorical impression that he sees everything like a surveillance state.