The novel describes a science fiction utopia where market capitalism and television game shows have spiraled out of control. King establishes characters quickly, creating sympathy in the first few pages for Ben Richards?óÔé¼ÔÇØwhose 18-month-old baby girl is suffering from a horrible cough, perhaps pneumonia. Not able to afford medicine, Richards enters himself in the last-chance moneymaking scheme of the Free-Vee games. The games include Treadmill to Bucks, in which contestants with heart attack struggle to outlast a treadmill, or the accurately named Swim the Crocodiles. After rigorous physical and mental examinations, Richards is assigned "Elevator Six"--the path of a chosen...
was his purpose for writing it? I think that is was written for the purpose of warning us. Just like in Brave New World he is trying to warn our society from becoming something like they are visualizing.

Overall The Running Man is a pretty good book especially for people who like fast action books. Also it's not a bad thing to spend two hours on, waiting for the train or before class at lunch when you have nothing to do. I recommend it to all of you that are reading this essay and didn't read the book yet.