The Will To Live Analysis

The Will to Live Rebecca West, a British journalist, author, and literary critic, once said, “There is in every one of us an unending see-saw between the will to live and the will to die.” In 2016, Ernest H. Rosenbaum and Isadora Rosenbaum, from Stanford Medicine, concluded that West’s theory was true. The two medical professionals, who used cancer to provide the context for their conclusion, stated, “The will to live is a force within all of us to fight for survival when our lives are threatened by a disease such as cancer. Yet this force is stronger in some people than in others” (Rosenbaum). Though most medical professionals agree with the Rosenbaums, as there is research to support their conclusion, the medical community is still baffled …show more content…
This overview of relationships is important when considering that “numerous studies have linked stress from a bad relationship to a higher risk of heart disease— and even death—(while) healthy relationships can reduce those risks, while boosting life satisfaction…” (“Being in a Relationship”). Within The Long Walk, the positive relationship between Ray Garraty, the main character, his mother, and his girlfriend plays a large role in strengthening his will to live. Garraty has been tasked with walking four miles per hour until he is the last boy standing. Ninety-nine other boys have been given the same task, but the task is not jovial. If a walker drops below four miles per hour more than three times, that walker is shot and killed. Consequently, throughout the novel Garraty expresses his desire to finish the walk if only to see his mother and girlfriend in a town along the route the walkers are taking. Every time Garraty is close to capitulating he remembers who he would be leaving behind and is suddenly invigorated, which demonstrates the strength of his will to live. Nevertheless, positive relationships, coupled with a poor state of mind, can trigger the opposite effect and result in the complete failure of ones will to live. When Garraty reaches the aforementioned town, he becomes hysterical and his will to live is suddenly weakened, as opposed to strengthened, by his positive …show more content…
Ben Richards, the main character, is desperate to help his family. His young daughter has fallen ill and his wife as resorted to prostitution to raise the money necessary to provide proper medical attention. Richards agrees to participate in a competition in which he becomes a fugitive. If Richards survives for a month, he will receive one billion dollars, but no one has ever lasted over eight days before being killed. To some this might seem like suicide, but Richards’ relationship with his wife and daughter allows him to evade death for over eight days. As the manhunt continues, Richards is offered the position of Chief Hunter by the competition’s director. Richards considers what the offer would mean for his family, but before he can accept or decline, Richards is informed that his wife and daughter have both been murdered. This revelation changes the positive relationship that Richards had with his wife and daughter, which had allowed him to survive by strengthening his will to live, to a negative relationship within seconds. “His mind had gone midnight dark, and the darkness served as the background for a kind of scrap-book slide show” (King 375). At this moment, the strength added to Richard’s will to live vanishes, and his will to live is severely weakened.