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 Posted: Sun Apr 05, 2009 3:53 pm
The man in black fled across the desert...
This thread is all about Roland Deschain of Gilead.
...and the gunslinger followed
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Posted: Sun Apr 05, 2009 6:52 pm
Introduction
Roland Deschain of Gilead is a fictional character, the protagonist and antihero of Stephen King's The Dark Tower series. He is the son of Steven and Gabrielle Deschain and is descended from a long line of "gunslingers", peacekeepers and diplomats of Roland's society. His image and personality are largely inspired by the "Man with No Name" from several of Sergio Leone's westerns, though his quest and many of his personal, internal conflicts are drawn from Robert Browning's poem "Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came."
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Posted: Sun Apr 05, 2009 6:53 pm
Background
Roland becomes a gunslinger at the unheard-of age of 14 after being manipulated into taking the "trial of manhood" by Marten Broadcloak, his father's adviser and an incarnation of Randall Flagg. Marten has an affair with Roland's mother and makes sure Roland finds out about it, prompting Roland to request his trial in order to gain his guns and exact revenge on Marten. In the trial, Roland must defeat his teacher, Cort, using a weapon of his choosing. He chooses a hawk named David and defeats Cort. Despite Roland's victory, Cort and Roland's father convince Roland to bide his time before seeking retribution.
Not long after, Roland's father sends him on a mission to the town of Hambry in the Outer Barony of Mejis with his friends Alain Johns and Cuthbert Allgood, who will form the basis of his first ka-tet. While there, he comes into the possession of a pink crystal ball, one of 13 magical artifacts referred to as "Maerlyn's Rainbow." It was while looking into this artifact that Roland first discovered his destiny to quest for the Dark Tower.
Roland is a 30th-generation descendant of his world's version of King Arthur, referred to in the series as Arthur Eld. In Wizard and Glass, during a flashback to Roland's time in the Barony of Mejis, a letter from his father identifies Steven Deschain as a 29th-generation descendant of Arthur Eld from a side lineage (that is to say, from one of Arthur's many "gillies," or concubines). Even his guns were originally made of the melted-down metal from the legendary Excalibur sword. It is hinted that one must possess this sword, or another sign of the Eld (the line of Arthur Eld) in order to open the door at the foot of the Tower. According to a supplemental prose story by Robin Furth included in The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger Born (issues #7 & #2, respectively), Roland's ancestry traces back to Arthur Eld and Emmanuelle Deschain, the daughter of his seneschal, Kay Deschain, while the Crimson King's ancestry traces back to an affair between Arthur and the Crimson Queen.
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Posted: Sun Apr 05, 2009 6:55 pm
Quest for the Dark Tower
Roland on the cover of the comic The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger Born #1.Roland is alone at the beginning of the series, following the way of ka, a variant of destiny that is similar in concept to other karmic ideologies. The term ka-tet is used for a group of people who are deeply bonded to one another through ka. The seven-book series is about Roland's acquisition of a new ka-tet and the completion of his quest. Roland is the last surviving gunslinger and is possessed (or, as he describes it himself, "addicted") by a quest to reach The Dark Tower, the axis upon which infinite numbers of parallel worlds rotate. (Eddie Dean, an ex-heroin addict and member of Roland's ka-tet, calls Roland a "Tower junkie.") The Dark Tower is under assault by the Crimson King, Lord of Discordia, a Satan-like figure bent on destroying the Dark Tower by undermining the "Beams" that support it.
In the first novel, The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger, Roland's original desire is simply to climb to the Dark Tower's top to question whatever god dwells there, but ka has greater plans for him. The ka-tet he acquires during the series bears many resemblances to his childhood ka-tet, who were all killed trying to help Roland on his quest. How he treats his new ka-tet when faced with decisions between their lives and his quest is a key component of the novels. Ultimately, his ka-tet represents a chance for redemption and a means by which he can ultimately change his own ka.
At the end of the seventh novel, it is revealed that he is trapped in a repetitive reincarnation, his "damnation" for his crimes and killings (similar to Stephen King's short story "That Feeling, You Can Only Say What It Is in French," in which he expresses that his idea of hell is repetition.) However, it is also suggested that this eternal repetition is not quite eternal -- after his rebirth at the end of the novel, it is revealed that in this particular reiteration of his journey, he possesses the Horn of Eld which in his previous pilgrimages he had lost in the final stand at Jericho Hill, the one major element which was discrepant from his approach to the tower and Childe Roland's approach in Robert Browning's Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came ("Dauntless the slug-horn to my lips I set...") In this way, it is alluded that Roland might yet find salvation from his personal Hades.
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Posted: Sun Apr 05, 2009 6:56 pm
Relations with other characters
Roland's oldest enemy is Randall Flagg, a villain who appears in many of King's works. Flagg's character appears in many different incarnations throughout the series. He is a minion of the Crimson King himself, though he is ultimately hoping to overthrow him. He is often at the heart of most conflicts with Roland throughout the Gunslinger's lifetime.
His relationships with his Ka-Tet change greatly over the course of the story. When he first 'draws' Eddie from our world, Roland dislikes him for being a drug-addict and constantly complaining about his conditions. After Eddie beats his addiction, though, he starts to care for him more and more and eventually Roland regards him as something between a son and a brother. His relationship with Susannah is also of the same sort, though he is initially weary of the second personality, Detta, after her personalities 'merge' into Susannah he gets to know her better and grows to care deeply for her. His relationship with Jake is perhaps the deepest, initially seeing the boy as a trustworthy and strong companion, but eventually regarding him as his true son. Roland, already scarred with the deaths of all his childhood friends - who all died helping him to get closer to the tower - he is shown to be emotionally devastated by Eddie's and especially Jake's death, weeping openly (something Eddie mentioned before did not happen often, if at all).
Roland cries out all their names - both his first and second Ka-Tet's - when he reaches the door of the Dark Tower, along with other characters who he cared for in some way or another; Susan Delgado, Rolands first(and only true) love, whom he eventually abandoned upon discovering his quest for the Tower, Father Callahan, who was also a member of Roland's second Ka-Tet, albeit for a much shorter time, Hax the cook, whom Roland betrayed to the gunslingers because he was a traitor, something that deeply affected Roland, his parents' names, the name of David the Hawk, whom Roland used in the trial for his revolvers, and the name of Aunt Talitha of River Crossing, whose cross he lies at the base of the tower. He also cries the names of Ted Brautigan and Dinky Earnshaw, two 'Breakers' who helped him and his friends greatly, the name of Sheemie Ruiz, one of Roland's longest-surviving friends, and that of Oy, the billy-bumbler, a Ka-Tet member whom died saving Roland's life from Mordred.
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Posted: Sun Apr 05, 2009 6:57 pm
Characteristics
Emotionally, Roland at times appears detached or unsympathetic, often reacting uncaring or angry at signs of cowardice or self-pity. He is shown to be mentally scarred from the deaths of all his friends and family, often thinking about their words and actions, and he is said (on more than one occasion by himself) that he greatly lacks imagination. He is also shown not to have a great sense of humor, though he knows a lot of riddles he almost never jokes and is visibly irritated at times when Eddie (and in the past, Cuthbert) joke around. He also describes himself as "not very good in thinking around corners", meaning he has a very practical character, never really seeking other meanings or intentions behind what he sees, although he is very perceptive and intelligent. Cuthbert, Roland's best friend in his childhood, once said the gears in Roland's head turn slow, but grind extremely well. Roland is not very patient, especially when he is under stress, and often makes a rotating gesture with his hand, which means 'go on, hurry, move on' in conversations. He is not one for small-talk. Roland is also shown to care a great deal for his Ka-Tet, or "Companions in fate", and often puts himself at risk to save or assist them - though when confronted with the choice between saving one of them or getting one step closer to the Tower, he would almost certainly choose the Tower. Roland's silent desperation for the Tower is the driving rhythm of the series; it can be felt most powerfully in "The Gunslinger", wherein Roland's sole desire is the Tower and nothing below it.
Roland's revolvers (sometimes referred to as "the big guns" by other characters) are described as long and heavy, with blued steel (originally from his world's Excalibur) and sandalwood grips. These guns are a major sigul, as they are recognized throughout Mid-World and are used as an identifier of Roland. During the search for more ammunition in New York City in The Drawing of the Three, the guns are revealed to be chambered for .45 Long Colt ammunition. An experienced gunslinger, Roland can reload the revolvers with blinding speed (even with the loss of his right hand's middle and index fingers), and his marksmanship is near-perfect.
King physically compares Roland to a pair of living people: Clint Eastwood in the Sergio Leone movies and, to a greater extent, Stephen King himself. There is a moment in the earlier books where Roland's apprentice, Jake, sees Clint Eastwood on a movie poster and remarks how similar his eyes are to the gunslinger's. There is a point during the second book at which Roland psychically bonds himself with a murderer named Jack Mort; the combination of the two personages is said to resemble the mannerisms of Arnold Schwarzenegger as he appeared in the original Terminator film. Eddie Dean sees Stephen King as a young man and recognizes that he and Roland share many of the same physical features, saying that Roland could be King's father. Physical appearance aside, King has often remarked that Roland is one of the few characters with whom he could never really identify. In King's own words, Roland "scared" him.
Roland's character can be viewed as a massive extension of the character of Jack Slade as portrayed in King's early short story Slade.
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