The Dark Tower Volume I: The Gunslinger - The Gunslinger Part 11-20
Sheb makes an appearance in this section, and it's not a positive one considering he's barged in the bedroom with a knife in his hand. I presume he and Allie had something going on before the gunslinger arrived and now he's jealous. The gunslinger didn't even hear Sheb come up and realizes his reflexes have sunk. I'm guessing that him settling into the routine of dinner, sex, and sleep with Allie is the reason behind that. He's been getting far too comfortable and wasn't prepared to be attacked. However, he's still got some of it left in him: 'He brought the knife down with both hands, and the gunslinger caught his wrists and turned them.'
This isn't the only time the gunslinger has nearly been attacked in Tull. Remember that man he saw in the mirror approaching him with a knife on his first day in town? In fact, everyone in Tull, with the exception of Allie, has been hostile towards the gunslinger. Could the man in black have cast a spell to turn the whole town against him? Although he doesn't show it, I can tell the gunslinger is being driven crazy with paranoia because he even contemplates Allie being a trap.
More mysteries! The gunslinger suddenly recognizes Sheb from his past in a place called Mejis. A girl named Susan, a bonfire on Reap night, and a man named Eldred Jonas are brought up, and it's clear that the gunslinger is upset by these memories. He doesn't want to talk about it to Allie, which concurs with my previous analysis of the gunslinger a few sections ago - that he's a man incapable of talking about things or sharing his feelings.
I was wondering if the preacher woman that pervy Kennerly was babbling on about would be introduced, and now she has. Her name is Sylvia Pittston. She is the main focus of this section. I have a feeling she's going to be pivotal to the rest of the events in Tull.
The gunslinger watches her standing at the pulpit, and even though his description of her is not particularly flattering, 'a huge pillar of a neck overtopped by a pasty white moon of a face,' he realizes he has a red lust for her. This attraction seems weird and unnatural so I wouldn't be surprised if the man in black was involved in this and it was a trap.
I'm quite certain that Sylvia is trying to manipulate everyone into believing the gunslinger is the Interloper in an attempt to turn the whole of Tull against him. This is confirmed when the gunslinger senses that she has been possessed by the man in black.
He knows it's almost time to leave Tull now. He can't carry on being afraid of the desert ahead and staying put. He would end up getting slaughtered by the brainwashed townspeople otherwise. I wonder why the man in black would want to turn the whole town against him. Surely he'd rather the gunslinger get comfortable and stay in Tull for as long as possible so he'd have little chance of catching up with him. Unless he actually wants the gunslinger to catch up with him. Hmmm... maybe he does!
Now the gunslinger is back in bed with Allie. It's a good job she's not religious otherwise he'd have to keep his distance from her like he's going to have to with the others. Maybe it's a trap and Allie has been made not religious on purpose so she can be his only friend. Oh, the paranoia...
'How long has she been here?'
'Twelve years. Or maybe only two. Time's funny, as thou knows.'
There is a bit of a difference between twelve years and two years! Time has been referred to as 'funny' before. When the gunslinger asked Brown how long it had been since he'd met the man in black, he answered 'I don't know. Time's funny out here. More than two weeks. Less than two months.' Looks like Time could end up being an important theme in this book series.
Direction could end up being an important theme too. When the gunslinger asks Allie what direction the preacher woman came from, it makes him think about his path southeast again. Before the flashback, the gunslinger mentioned the pull southeast was more than magnetism, and now he's saying he can see the path in the sky sometimes. This makes me remember what Allie said a few sections ago about all the clouds going southeast, like they are being sucked in. There seems to be some kind of force. What could be southeast? Could it be the Dark Tower?
The gunslinger believes the preacher woman has come a lot further than from the desert, and I agree. Her flawless, pale skin was made apparent more than once in the previous section and I couldn't imagine someone from the desert having skin like that.
Allie sighed. It was an old, yellow sound, like turning pages.
Ah, I adore this description!
The final sentence of this section is probably the biggest cliffhanger we've had so far:
He only saw her once more alive.
Just seven words, but they are very hard-hitting. It's sad, I liked Allie. I guess it was inevitable though.
The gunslinger has gone to see Sylvia Pittston. Predictable move. This was a very fast-paced scene that I feel could have been better if it was fleshed out more. At times I struggled to understand what was going on.
The gunslinger finds out Sylvia is pregnant but whether it's the man in black's child is not clear. Yes or no, the gunslinger uses her pregnancy to his advantage and tortures her in a rather vulgar way to get information on what is beyond the desert. She says mountains.
Two terms Sylvia mentions are worth nothing. 'The High Speech', which Nort spoke and made the gunslinger realize he'd been in contact with the man in black, and 'the sign of the Eye.' Whatever that is, I'm sure we'll find out as we progress.
Now ready to be on his way, the gunslinger picks up his mule from Kennerly's. This is the third section in a row that a storm has been mentioned. As the storm nears, so is the climax of the gunslinger's flashback. I'm on the edge about what's going to happen.
His reaction was automatic, instantaneous, inbred. He whirled on his heels while his hands pulled the guns from their holsters, the butts heavy and sure in his hands.
This is a special moment. The gunslinger gets his guns out for the first time in the series so far; the first of what is sure to be many, many times.
'Kill me, Roland, kill me! I said the word, nineteen, I said, and he told me...I can't bear it-'
After all this time we finally learn the gunslinger's name! I don't know if the book is still going to refer to him as the gunslinger, but I'll be calling him Roland now because I'm fed up of typing 'the gunslinger'.
And oh no, Allie! She said the word 'nineteen'! *Sigh* Her reaction is interesting. Judging from 'I can't bear it,' it appears the secrets of the grave are the worst anyone could imagine, yet she begs to be killed, which makes me think the secrets of the grave can't be so bad otherwise she wouldn't want to die.
I also wonder if Allie saying the word 'nineteen' actually triggered the trap of everyone in Tull attacking Roland, but I have doubts. It's probably just a mad coincidence. Sylvia Pittston's brainwashing seems like the true reason behind this attack.
Roland doesn't hold back, does he? I was surprised he killed Allie, and in the way he did too... Not even any farewell or an apology... I thought he would have at least made an attempt to protect her, but it appears he isn't the sort of man to take such risks. He just does what he has to do for his own ends, not allowing his emotions to get in the way.
Another thing that surprises me is that none of the townspeople retreated once Roland drew his guns and started shooting people. It's common sense they were no match for him with their sticks and knives, yet they didn't flee. This pretty much confirms they are under Sylvia's spell.
The guns were empty and they boiled at him, transmogrified into an Eye and a Hand.
An Eye and a Hand? Hmmm... I remember Sylvia Pittston doing 'the sign of the Eye' when Roland visited her shack. I presume these are both terms related to his training and life as a gunslinger.
A small boy squirmed at him and made the only deep cut, across the bulge of his calf. The gunslinger blew his head off.
Shocking! He doesn't spare no one does he? Though I guess it would be hard to spare anyone in the heat of battle. This made me think... what about the baby that was playing in the dirt at Kennerly's?
He had shot and killed thirty-nine men, fourteen women, and five children. He had shot and killed everyone in Tull.
I believe Roland wouldn't have done this if there was another option. However, there wasn't one. His only way to get out of Tull alive was to kill everyone, and the man and black knew that. Perhaps his killing of them was the actual trap. After all, killing them and having to deal with it would be a hell of a trap.
He had the opportunity to get of town before all this kicked off though. He knew what was coming yet he hung around anyway. I question why. Allie or being afraid of the desert don't convince me as good enough reasons. Some may say he should have gone while he had the chance and left them alive, but I believe Tull was done for anyway, what with weed-eaters and fathers sleeping with their own daughters... In a way, Roland was cleaning the town.
He went back inside, ate hamburgers, and drank three beers.
Wow... just wow... I'd say this tells us more about Roland than anything we've learned so far about him. It's unbelievable that not a single thought runs through his mind about what he did. How can someone drop by the tavern, eat burgers, drink beer, and not feel anything when a trail of dead bodies they just killed are outside twisted and zigzagged on the ground?!
The flashback has ended and now we are back to the present time in Brown's hut. I expected Brown to be more reflective after he'd been told this massively long flashback, but he was actually very distant and removed. Not that I should be surprised with the gunslinger being so inhuman in the previous section.
Roland is on his own again. He still doesn't reflect on his actions in Tull. In fact, it's made known that 'any thoughts of guilt, any feelings of regret, had faded. The desert had baked them out.'
The massacre of Tull obviously didn't bother Roland very much. Perhaps he's killed so many that he's used to it by now, and therefore unaffected. However I'm not going to mark him down as being heartless or a monster... yet. Apparently he is a romantic? It doesn't seem like Roland's style but if it is a closely guarded trait about him he wouldn't show it, I suppose.
He is musing about two people from his past: Cort, his instructor, and Susan, his lover. He seems these people who are now gone were important to Roland. I wonder if he has any guilt or regrets about what happened to them?
I give this part four sugar cubes! The massacre of Tull has definitely been the best scene so far.
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