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The Running Man

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54 pages • 1 hour read

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapters 1-20

Chapters 21-40

Chapters 41-60

Chapters 61-80

Chapters 81-101

Character Analysis

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Discussion Questions

Ben Richards

Ben Richards is the novel’s protagonist and the eponymous running man of the title. When the story begins, he is a desperate man with a desperate wife and a sick child. He describes himself as “a dinosaur in this time. Not a big one, but still a throwback, an embarrassment. Perhaps a danger” (3). His self-characterizations are accurate. He will prove to be an embarrassment for the Network and is absolutely a danger to the unjust system the Network represents.

He and Sheila have an “[o]ld-style lifetime contract” (64), which refers to what would be a typical marriage in real, modern life. Killian reinforces Ben’s view that he belongs to another period. He tells Ben that he wishes he could preserve him as he does with art. Killian’s dossier on Ben provides most of Ben’s other salient characteristics: Ben is 28 and disdains authority. Killian describes Ben as “antiauthoritarian and antisocial. [He’s] a deviate who has been intelligent enough to stay out of prison and serious trouble with the government, and [he’s] not hooked on anything” (65).

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  3. The Running Man Chapter Questions

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  5. "The Running Man" by Richard Bachman/Stephen King Study Questions

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COMMENTS

  1. The Running Man Essay Topics

    Thanks for exploring this SuperSummary Study Guide of "The Running Man" by Stephen King. A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.

  2. The Running Man Chapters 1-20 Summary & Analysis

    Chapter 1 Summary: "…Minus 100 and Counting…". Sheila watches her husband, Ben Richards, study a TV (called a "Free-Vee") program called Treadmill to Bucks, in which people with severe health conditions try to earn money. For each additional minute spent on a treadmill, they are paid.

  3. The Running Man Character Analysis

    905 Words4 Pages. In the novel The Running Man by Michael Gerard Bauer, the author captures the experiences of a marginalised character, Tom Leyton. The use of the silkworm metaphor invites the audience to uncover the dark secrets of Tom Leyton 's mysterious past. The introduction of the character Joseph Davidson provides the author with a ...

  4. The Running Man Summary and Study Guide

    The Running Man is a dystopian novel by Stephen King (1982), written under the pen name of Richard Bachman. It tells the story of Ben Richards, a man in a nightmarish future who goes to extreme lengths to provide for his wife and sick infant. The Running Man is one of King's more prescient works. Its framework of a lethal game show has much that will be familiar to modern-day viewers of ...

  5. The Running Man Essay

    The Running Man Essay. Throughout the novel of 'The running man' the theme 'things are not always what they seem' is a consistent idea in the text. Michael Gerard Bauer's narrative is a story of the value of perception as characters are constantly being mis-judged. Like Mrs. Mossop, josephs 'nosey' neighbour, the 'dangerous ...

  6. Essay Questions

    Study Help Essay Questions. 1. What does invisibility mean in the context of this novel? Give examples of how the author depicts this invisibility within the story. 2. Beginning with slave narratives, the "running man" is a key theme in black folklore and literature.

  7. The Running Man Analysis

    The Running Man Analysis. The Running Man The running man is the fourth novel written by the Stephen King/ Richard Bechman in 1982, highlighting the miseries of dystopia of the American world. This novel is the fourth writing material out of his seven scripts which embodies the harsh realities of the second half of the twentieth century.

  8. Analysis Of The Running Man By Michael Gerard Bauer

    The Running Man essay- Jamie Bouzianis The Running Man, by Michael Gerard Bauer (2004) portrays the theme of outsiders within a society. As Michael Gerard Bauer demonstrates isolation and exclusion, through various characters, this depicts the dangers of institutionalising and "Putting people in boxes". The characters that illustrate this ...

  9. An Analysis of the Theme in The Running Man by Stephen King

    The Running Man, by Stephen King, is a book about a dystopian society that is falling apart. Between the pervert mags, the giant leap between social classes, the different currency, and the twisted TV shows this place seems to be terrible. ... The example essays in Kibin's library were written by real students for real classes. To protect the ...

  10. The Running Man

    The aim of this essay is to show that the inequality and invisibility forced on the Invisible Man is not exclusively reserved to him; it is also applicable to female characters within the novel. It is a nightmarishly antagonistic situation, yet the narrator manages to portray it by the use of imagery, the

  11. The Running Man. A photo essay starring the Forrest Gump…

    He started by running alongside the boxers who trained at the famous 5th Street Gym, one of the places Muhammed Ali became fight-ready. Now, though, he's a daily attraction — Miami's version ...

  12. The Running Man Summary

    Title of book: The Running Man. Author: Stephen King writing as Richard Bachman. Number of pages: 317. Genre: Science Fiction. Publication date: May, 1982. Two relevant facts about author or events at time of publication: Fact 1: Was writing under the pseudonym "Richard Bachman" so he could express opinions in this novel that people wouldn ...

  13. The Running Man Summary

    Plot Summary. In his young adult novel, The Running Man (2004), Michael Gerard Bauer explores themes of transformation and evolution, illustrating that stereotyping and giving in to assumptions is a dangerous practice. Fourteen-year-old Joseph Davidson is at a funeral, feeling sad and conflicted. Sitting in the front pew with his mother, he ...

  14. English Running Man Essay Flashcards

    Introduction part 1. The Running Man, written by Michael Gerard Bauer is a novel which revolves around the idea of people transforming after suffering terrible experienced and traumas. This coming of age novel focuses on a reclusive and un-emotional veteran and his young next door neighbour Joseph Davidson. Intro Part 2.

  15. The Running Man Essay

    The Running Man Essay. Throughout the novel of 'The running man' the theme 'things are not always what they seem' is a consistent idea in the text. Michael Gerard Bauer's narrative is a story of the value of perception as characters are constantly being mis-judged. Like Mrs. Mossop, josephs 'nosey' neighbour, the 'dangerous ...

  16. The Running Man essay Essay Example For FREE

    The Running Man is rendered a shadow of life due to his consistent chasing of a long lost family. Tom Leyton intentionally shuts himself up and therefore, misses opportunities, additionally, he harms his loving sister. Notably, Leyton and the Running Man are different, the Running Man is abandoned and mentally unwell, compared, Leyton possesses ...

  17. The Running Man Essays

    The Running Man The running man is the fourth novel written by the Stephen King/ Richard Bechman in 1982, highlighting the miseries of dystopia of the American world. This novel is the fourth writing material out of his seven scripts which embodies the harsh realities of the second half of the twentieth century.

  18. Stephen King, The Running Man

    The Invisible Man by H.G. Wells is a science fiction classic written in 1897. The novel was first serialized in Pearson's Weekly the same year it was published.…. 682 Words. 3 Pages. Good Essays. Read More. Stephen,King, The Running Man, United States: Signet 1982 English Journal 1 Pg. 1-64 At the beginning of the novel it takes us through ...

  19. The Running Man Essay

    Poverty And Violence In The Running Man. In adult novel "The Running Man" is set in a dystopian United States during the year 2025, in which the nation's economy is in ruins and violence is rising. The main character Ben Richards, has lost his job, his baby daughter is sick, his wife is a prostitute, and they're the bottom class of society.

  20. The Running Man Character Analysis

    Ben Richards is the novel's protagonist and the eponymous running man of the title. When the story begins, he is a desperate man with a desperate wife and a sick child. He describes himself as "a dinosaur in this time. Not a big one, but still a throwback, an embarrassment. Perhaps a danger" (3).

  21. Short Story: The Running Man

    The Running Man The running man is the fourth novel written by the Stephen King/ Richard Bechman in 1982, highlighting the miseries of dystopia of the American world. ... 3.05 Poe Describes The Sensations Of Being Buried Alive Essay 761 Words | 4 Pages; Compare And Contrast Raymond's Run And The Scarlet Ibis 275 Words | 2 Pages; Character ...

  22. Running Man (TV program)

    Running Man (Korean: 런닝맨) is a South Korean variety show, formerly part of SBS' Good Sunday lineup. [1] It first aired on July 11, 2010. [2] It is the longest running Korean variety show. Running Man was originally classified as an "urban action variety"; a genre of variety shows in an urban environment. [3] The MCs and guests were to complete missions at a landmark to win the race. [4]

  23. Running man

    The Running Man Essay----- Essay- in class the running man - Things are not always what they seem Throughout the novel of 'The running man' the theme 'things are not always what they seem' is a consistent idea in the text. Michael Gerard Bauer's narrative is a story of the value of perception as characters are constantly being mis-judged.

  24. Kamala Harris is tapping into the Black Joy movement

    It's not just joy. Kamala Harris is tapping into an actual movement called "Black Joy." Led by artists and activists, this movement aims to create a joy "that no White man can steal."