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Dark tower12/28/2023 ![]() ![]() In this interpretation, the knight’s search for the Dark Tower ultimately leads him to the center of himself, and to the truth of selfawareness. They interpret the landscape that Browning’s Roland traverses as a reflection of the character’s fears, terrors, and preoccupations-in other words, as a reflection of his internal state. More recent critics, however, have read the poem in much more psychological terms. For them, it was a Romance in which a brave knight attempted to make a pilgrimage even though all before him had failed. One of Stephen King’s central inspirations for writing The Gunslinger was Robert Browning’s poem “Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came.” The Victorians who first read “Childe Roland” saw it as a story of heroism and duty. Can you identify these elements in The Gunslinger?ġ2. Although the setting of the Dark Tower series reminds us of a cowboy Western, King’s Tower novels draw from many other literary genres, including gothic fiction, science fiction, horror, and medieval Romance. In terms of its history, why is Roland’s land so dangerous and desolate? What is the symbolic significance of this harshness?ġ1. Throughout The Gunslinger, the landscapes Roland traverses are described as hostile, dry “purgatorial wastes.” Even relatively lush environments, such as the willow jungle, are full of dangerous forces, both mortal and demonic. In literature, settings often serve a symbolic purpose. When do the characters of The Gunslinger use High Speech? Would it be justified to call this a sacred language? What languages, in our world, are associated with religious ceremonies, ritual, and magic? What makes them special? Can these same attributes be said to belong to High Speech?ġ0. Why does the Man in Black call Jake Roland’s “Isaac”? What does this tell us about Roland, about his relationship to the Man in Black, and his relationship to the Dark Tower?ĩ. Nort is not the only sacrificial figure found in The Gunslinger. Why do you think King includes these references? Why do you think Nort is crucified after being resurrected, a direct reversal of the biblical events?Ĩ. The terms resurrection and crucifixion automatically make us reflect upon the biblical account of Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection, and the belief that, come Judgment Day, the dead will rise and be held accountable for the good and evil of their lives. After being poisoned by the addictive devil grass, he is resurrected by the sinister Man in Black, only to be later crucified by Sylvia Pittston and her followers. Nort, the weed-eater Roland meets in Tull, suffers a terrible fate. What role does Pittston play in the novel? Have you come across Pittston-like characters in any of King’s other fiction? How do you explain the discrepancy between Pittston’s professed role as a preacher and her actual allegiance to the Man in Black and the Crimson King? What are the divisions between good and evil in Roland’s world?ħ. As Roland’s lover Allie says, Pittston’s religion is poison. Although Sylvia Pittston claims to be a woman of God, she is actually one of the most actively destructive characters found in The Gunslinger. How do you explain these similarities? What is the relationship between Roland’s world and our world?Ħ. Jake’s description of New York (recounted while he is under hypnosis) reminds Roland of the mythical city of Lud, and the tunnels beneath the Cyclopean Mountains contain the ruins of a subway system that remind Jake of home. The townsfolk of Tull know the words to the Beatles’ song “Hey Jude,” and they use bocks (bucks, or dollars) as their currency. Throughout The Gunslinger, we are struck by the number of similarities between our world and Roland’s world. One of Roland’s favorite phrases is “the world has moved on.” What does this mean? What do you think Roland’s world was like before it moved on?ĥ. Why does the term Man in Black have such emotional impact? What images do we automatically associate with such a figure? Do you believe that Walter is actually human? Is he demonic? What role does the demonic play in Roland’s world?Ĥ. Are there any figures from folklore, history, or film that remind you of Roland? How is he similar to them and how is he different? Would you call Roland a hero or an antihero?ģ. Like them, he is simultaneously part lawman and part outlaw. In many ways, Roland reminds us of the semimythical gunslingers of the late-nineteenth-century American West. ![]() Who is Roland of Gilead? What is his ancestry? How does his personal history reflect the history of his land?Ģ. The Dark Tower I: The Gunslinger Reading Group Guide from The Dark Tower: The Complete Concordanceġ. ![]()
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