Duality

Inside the Dark Tower Series by Patrick McAleer brings up an interesting point about the gothic world of the Dark Tower. Gothic is usually described as uncanny, off, close enough to reality but not close enough for comfort. McAleer makes a point of noting that “simplicity and singularity function as polar opposites to the Gothic which concerns itself with the ornate and various, which leads to the eerie pairings of characters in the Dark Tower series – Roland/ Crimson King; Cuthbert/Eddie; Jake/Alain; Susan/Susannah; Sheemie/Bryan Smith…” (Page 48). McAleer notes that there is an eerie pairing of Susan and Susannah, but he doesn’t note the pairing that is Susannah. Each of the pairings is necessary for Roland to reach the Tower. I’m afraid I’m repeating myself in these posts, but I’m also trying to find other ways of explaining the connections.

This would also probably be a good time to look at the historical context of the novel. Why did King use the gothic themes? It is obvious that King was inspired by his real life, as he writes himself into the story, as well as his family and his accident. This plays into the Gothic theme in that we can see resemblances to King’s real life and the world we live in. We even see it in the world’s that have moved on, but there are still remnants of our world. The 1980s followed the major tensions of the Cold War between The U.S. and the Soviet Union. By this time Reagan and Gorbachev were releasing tensions toward the end of the decade. But the early 80s contained many assassinations of major political figures, as well as the attempted assassination of Reagan and Pope John Paul II. IBM released its first wide-spread consumer computer in ’81. The Gunslinger was released in ’82, which means King was probably working on it through the late Seventies. The last Dark Tower book (not including the Wind Through The Key Hole, a spin-off novel) was released in 2004. By that time The United States had ended the Cold War, but had suffered the loss of 9/11, and began another war. King’s personal life had also suffered loss, his boys were growing, and he was almost killed in a car accident. Turmoil, uncertainty, led to Mid-World: the world that had moved on. The gothic had evolved to a fear of nuclear destruction, a fear of a deadly disease, a fear of a post-apocalyptic world. Gothic in the 50s was a fear of brain washing, fear of otherness. Gothic in the 60s was a fear of nuclear destruction. The turn of the millenium and the last decades of a century led to a deeper, darker fear.

And thus, The Dark Tower.