The Dark Tower Volume I: The Gunslinger - The Way Station Part 1-6
This chapter begins with Roland being reminded of a nursery rhyme from his childhood:
'We walk in love but fly in chains
And the planes in Spain fall in the rain'
He didn't know what a plane was in the context of the rhyme's last couplet, but knew why the rhyme had occurred to him in the first place.
Here, we get some insight into the world which he lives. Roland doesn't know what a plane is, and it's not that technology is far behind in his world, as planes must must have once existed for the writer to know of them himself. The chances of Roland's world being our world or an alternate version in the distant future are high due to the mention of 'Spain'.
We learn more clues about Roland's past from the memory of this rhyme:
1) He had a room in a castle which had a window of many colours. I'm presuming the window itself wasn't colourful, but rather the view outside. If my analysis is correct than it's pretty much the opposite of where Roland is now then. The castle suggests he was born into nobility.
2) All small boys born to the High Speech must face the dark alone. This is quite a strict upbringing. Probably with many rules and responsibilities.
3) He had a lot of love for his mother. This contradicts the heartless character painted to us at the end of the previous chapter. With the knowledge of this and the girl named Susan, it seems Roland once loved, but no longer does for some reason.
So sixteen days have passed since he was at Brown's hut. He's ran out of water, the desert is getting more dry, and he's convinced he's going to die. But he doesn't want to fall because:
A gunslinger knows pride, that invisible bone that keeps the neck stiff.
That tell us a lot about Roland's character and what is expected of gunslingers. His strict upbringing now makes sense.
Roland reaches an old way station and realizes he's not there alone: a figure is sitting against the building. His obsession with the man in black is made clear again when he convinces himself the figure is the man in black, not even considering it might be someone else. Turns out it's actually a boy... He walks into the building, but conditions inside aren't any better than outside; the place is 'exploding with heat.' And with that, Roland faints.
It's a good job the boy, who we learn is named Jake, was there otherwise Roland would be a dead man by now. As he slowly recovers and drinks the water given to him by Jake, the two of them have an interesting conversation. The first half about the man in black I could see coming for obvious reasons (I laughed out loud when Jake said he measures time by the amount of poops he has) but the second half of the conversation took me by complete surprise...
At first I thought Jake was just a dweller like Brown, but then I was given little clues that made me question it: First, he saw a movie in Times Square. Second, his skin was not dried and cracked like those living in the desert would be. Then Roland confirms it: 'Sand in his craw or not, he didn't come from this place.' It's clear - Jake was somehow teleported from New York to the desert in Roland's world. Mind-blowing! This series has become more than just the post apocalyptic western we thought it was. Something much bigger is going on.
'What's a channel?' A wild idea occurred to him. 'Is it like a beam?'
So not only does Roland not know what a plane is, he doesn't know what a channel or a TV is. Roland's world certainly lacks technological advances. It's odd how his world has certain things in common with our world, like The Beatles, but not others.
When Jake gets upset about his situation, he gets a cold response from Roland: 'Don't feel so sorry for yourself. Make do.' This is more of Roland's strict upbringing coming to light. However it's all on the surface. Inside, it appears that he does feel when he finally thinks about Allie and what happened in Tull.
It was not fair to ring in innocent bystanders and make them speak lines they didn't understand on a strange stage. 'Allie,' he thought, 'Allie was at least part of this world, in her own self-illusory way. But this boy... this Goddamned boy...'
From his thoughts above, it seems that he fears what's in store for Jake and believes the man in black may have set a trap on the boy, just like he did with Allie. It's possible that he's resentful of the man in black if this is the case, as he knows the boy hadn't asked to be in this strange world. I didn't even consider Jake being a trap. Thank god Roland has the wits to think ahead. I really hope he doesn't let any harm come to Jake...
It is when Jake mentions 'A statue in the water; a lady with a crown and a torch and a book' that I'm one hundred perfect certain he is from New York. He goes on to tell Roland more about where he's from, but struggles to remember. Could it be possible the man in black can move between all worlds and is therefore the reason behind Jake being here? I remember the man in black implying the existence of more than one world in the conversation between him and Allie. That idea is quite frightening. It makes the man in black superior to the highest level.
When Roland decides to hypnotize Jake with one of his gun shells in an attempt to find out more, he has a brief moment of self-loathing:
He dropped it [the shell] into his palm, made a fist, and squeezed it with painful force. Had it exploded, in that moment he would have rejoiced at the destruction of his talented hand, for its only true talent was murder.
Oh dear! That is a pretty grim thought to have. It's not something I would have expected of someone as tough as Roland. Is he now starting to regret his actions in Tull? Something tells me there is more to it than just Tull. Perhaps Tull wasn't the only massacre he started. Quite disturbing how his mother was on his mind just before this thought. Could he have killed her?
Ah, the Tower stood somewhere in the middle of things (so they did say), rearing its black-gray bulk to the sky.
At last! The Dark Tower, the biggest mystery of this series is finally brought up.
So Jake got run over and died. Wow. This description is probably the most gruesome we've come across so far in the series, but I love it: 'It breaks Jake's back, mushes his guts to gravy, and sends blood from his mouth in a high-pressure jet.' It's typical Steven King. I hope there are more snippets of imagery like this in future descriptions.
As I suspected, the man in black played a part in Jake being here: he was in New York at the time of Jake's death and watched him die. Although Jake didn't say he was pushed into the road, it seems that he might have been, and it's likely the man in black was the one who did it!
His death is the last thing Jake remembers, so presumably after he died, he ended up at this way station . It's bizarre. Could Roland's world really be purgatory or the afterlife like Brown believed? Or is Jake only here because of the man in black's Act of Contrition?
As Jake sleeps, Roland goes into the room with the water pump:
It was a thing as alien to this place and time as true love, and yet as concrete as a Judgement, a silent reminder of the time when the world had not yet moved on.
So water pumps existed before the world moved on, but they don't anymore. I wonder what other technology existed back then? I wonder if Roland's world back then was as advanced as our world now? The answer is yes, of course, if Roland's world is a future version of our own. Although I have a hunch about that, we don't know for sure, and that is the great thing about this book. Some may not think all this uncertainty is a great thing, but I do. Mysteries are strangely addictive.
It had been made by a company called North Central Positronics . The gunslinger didn't like it.
Must make a note of that. Who knows when that name will pop up again...
'I guess you know I'm on the prod for that man you saw.'
'Are you going to kill him?'
'I don't know. I have to make him tell me something. I may have to make him take me someplace.'
'To find a tower,' the gunslinger said.
Nearly one hundred pages through, and we finally get a motive to why Roland is after the man in black: he wants to find the Dark Tower! I was actually wondering what part the title of this series would play in the plot. With how sketchy the series has been so far, I doubt we will find out anytime soon, but it seems the man in black holds all the answers.
When Roland goes into the cellar to get food for him and Jake, he encounters a Demon. He doesn't see it, but he can hear it, and it speaks with the voice of Allie. I have doubts that the Demon is actually Allie. It's more likely that her voice is a figment of Roland's imagination, or the demon is doing it on purpose to provoke a reaction from Roland. However, it doesn't seem to be an evil Demon. It actually gives Roland some advice:
'Go slow past the Drawers, gunslinger. Watch for the taheen.'
Well, this makes little sense... I presume the Drawers are a place. I remember a taheen being mentioned very early on in the book. It was a man with the raven's head. That is the second time one has been foreshadowed. Interesting...
'While you travel with the boy, the man in black travels with your soul in his pocket.'
This is very worrying. From this, it's certain that Jake is yet another trap by the man in black. Unless the Demon is lying, which I doubt. Poor Jake...
He could feel the rapid beating of the boy's heart. It occurred to him later that this was when he began to love the boy - which was, of course, what the man in black must have planned all along. Was there ever a trap to match the trap of love?
I give this part four and a half sugar cubes! I loved the introduction of Jake. He and Roland seem as though they could develop a strong bond. I still don't trust Roland though... He'd better not doesn't let anything bad happen to Jake.
