All the major deaths in the long walk are very different despite all of them having the same murder weapon and setting.
Curley is the only one killed while sitting and it’s in broad daylight and the vibe is horrific but not dangerous, none of the other boys fear for their lives in that exact moment but they all feared for Curleys. He screams till he goes and curls up into a ball, we all know what’s coming before it happens but it’s still happening and we have to sit through it.
Pearsons death (all of them on the hill) is panic and desperate, it’s fast and abrupt and intense. It’s dark and sweaty and tense in a way unlike every other scene. Everyone fades into the shadows, screams echoing from behind. People are running and falling all around and they all died in fear.
Harkness is another “you know it’s coming” scene but the character hasn’t accepted it yet. He’s reasoning with guards about fairness and he’s been going on despite it being hopeless as soon as his ankle twisted. He tries to get in a soft goodbye and it’s ripped away from him with a bullet. It’s in broad daylight and it’s like the world is mocking Harkness (death comes right after cute gavries scene, kids on bikes staring at him from the sidelines, his last words being interrupted) it’s sad and has an air of watching something that doesn’t want to die get put down (there’s no hope but they still want to live and they never understand the reasoning).
Hanks death is a wild card. You know he’s mentally gone but maybe he can keep going a little longer physically. There’s been a lot of time since Hanks last line that you really get to see the contrast between funny snarky Hank and whatever is in his body now. Then he takes off his hat and turns and is immediately shot. The stumbling and pathetic quiet screams he makes is like watching someone impale a rabbit with an arrow. Hanks not being put down he’s being made to suffer. His screams and the way he crawls and inches forward. You know he’s not alive but you don’t want him to go and he doesn’t want to be left behind. It’s dark and mourning, the music is ethereal and Hank acts like a sacrifice. No one can go back to save him but everyone is mourning him and his life continues to bring people together and inspire hope even as he’s left on the pavement.
Barkovitchs death is desperate and scary. Another wildcard, you’re not totally sure where he’s going with this. He’s comforted and attacked and mean and sad and angry and happy all in one conversation, is he getting better? Worse? It’s uncomfortable because you want it to end but you don’t wanna know what he’s gonna do to end it. Ray leaves and then Barko does his thing. It’s surprising and graphic and in the light again, forcing you to see it all. Forced to see something you couldn’t do anything about, you couldn’t stop and you can’t help after. Gary was in this limbo where you’re worrying about him hurting others or getting hurt and then he hurts himself, tragic and scary and uncomfortable as he so often is to witness.
Collies death is whiplash. Confusion, hope, anticipation and devastation in the span of 4 lines. Like Gary and Hank, his story has been ramping up for an ending for a while now but it’s not clear what all his building anger is going to result in, then he’s fast and effective. Everyone is stunned by his bravery and strength but that stun lasts too long for anyone to help and is too short for him to finish the full job. Then it’s the cold realization he’s left behind. He dies on his knees, blood in his mouth and falling from his side. His last moments are sad and defiant and angry, they’ve taken so much from him that HE decides to take his own life. He lost their game but he was the first one to realize how all of them could’ve won. He acted in sunlight, we saw clearly what this meant, what he was trying. It makes you miserable and plants what ifs in your head for the rest of the movie.
Arts is in the dark again, because his is another mourning. He’s gonna go home now, but no one wants him to go. They hold onto him and lie to him in hopes that keeps him around just a little longer. It’s unfair. Olson plays again and Arts death is as close to peace as anyone ever gets. They all get their goodbyes and they promise him all his wishes. He starts walking back towards the lights. Like Hank and unlike Collie or Curly his death is blurry in the background because it isn’t about the death. It’s not a message about the system, it’s a remembrance of his life. Forever haunted by his stare before he goes and forever remembering his smile for his friends when they started. It’s a sobbing death for sure.
Stebbins death is another one in the dark. He gets final words and gives explanations right before he goes like Art. Stebbins like Collie chooses death. Neither of them want to die, but they decide to have some agency in their inevitable fate. It feels like saluting someone’s sacrifice, really adds to that numbness that comes with witnessing 48 heartbreaking deaths, no flinching when he goes, but there’s another empty space besides them and it’s limitless and consuming.
Rays death like Collies comes fast. So many emotions: fear and hope and confusion and surprise and despair. It’s hopeless but you don’t believe it until the major pulls the trigger. Ray gets the most complete death, he gives his reasoning, he apologizes to his mom, he gets to close his eyes before the end. It’s the culmination of everyone else’s death. The most painful the most impactful the most inevitable the most unfair.
