The Drawing of the Three

In the novel’s penultimate section, the action quickens toward a climactic resolution. While the middle section contained passages of reflection, the focus is now more on the unfolding plot. Redemption comes to the forefront as a motivator, as characters gain opportunities to fix past mistakes. The text’s several timelines begin to crisscross more urgently, expanding important motifs like doubles and pairs as well as themes, including The Relationship Between Destiny and Free Will.

One of the important events in this section is the beginning of a change in Detta’s personality. A complex, morally gray character, she has been described as excessively violent up to this point. This violence is still on show, especially when Detta stalks Eddie like a predator, ultimately slipping a noose around his neck. However, Detta now feels a pang of pity for Eddie as he screams for Odetta, and she notices Eddie’s extreme youth. She’s so unnerved by this new empathy that she admonishes her inner voice: “No you don’t, not this time, not now. Not now, maybe not ever again” (172). Earlier, Detta decided against instantly killing Eddie and instead planned to leave him tied up as bait for the lobstrosities. Detta’s postponement of Eddie’s death is a manifestation of her desire not to kill Eddie at all. This change in Detta is triggered by her passage through the doorway. Going through the doorway is a psychic and spiritual experience since it makes the traveler view themself from the outside. In Detta’s case, the self she sees is Odetta, and vice versa. This is a metaphor for Detta becoming aware that she’s capable of love and pity and for Odetta finding her strength. The fact that Detta and Odetta are the same person after all reflects the vastness of the self. The narrative shows that people have different facets and sides and can’t be defined by one. Ultimately, one’s choices—rather than their thoughts and feelings—define oneself.

The change in Detta can also be attributed to The Redemptive Power of Friendship and Love, one of the book’s primary themes. As Odetta, she has fallen in love with Eddie. When Odetta and Eddie are together looking for the door, even the bleakness of the beach setting changes, as Eddie and Odetta become transfixed by the sight of “a single star gleaming on the breast of the night” (323). The physical setting of the text often mirrors the mental landscape of the characters, and this change shows how love and human connection can be life altering. Not only does love spark a change in Detta, but it also redeems Eddie.

Roland, too, receives the possibility for redemption in the key scene when he finds himself in the mind of Jack Mort as Mort stalks Jake Chambers. In The Gunslinger, the mysterious man in black gave Roland a difficult choice. Roland could either save Jake—who was imperiled during the journey—or receive answers about his quest. Placing his quest above everything, Roland had chosen to let 12-year-old Jake fall to his second death. This has haunted Roland, but in this section, he’s able to rectify that mistake. When Roland distracts Mort, he saves Jake and, metaphorically, himself as well. Mort, whose last name means “death” in French, emerges as the novel’s chief villain. Not only is he connected to Jake’s death, but he’s also the one who twice pushed Odetta and harmed her. The introduction of Mort helps winnow the good guys from the bad. While Detta has been wild and evil, she has never committed acts as terrible as Mort’s. The morally gray characters of Eddie, Detta, and Roland appear far more humane than Mort. Mort’s evil actions underscore the importance of choices: What he chooses to do defines Mort. While Detta and Eddie had murderous thoughts, they didn’t act on those impulses. Eddie didn’t slit Roland’s throat when he had the chance, and Detta didn’t follow through with smashing in Eddie’s head.

This section resolves certain mysteries while preserving others. This helps provide closure while also anticipating the answer to continuing puzzles. One puzzle that this section resolves is the drawing of the three cards. Roland had assumed this meant he’d encounter three people to participate in his quest, but he now realizes that he’s the third himself. In The Gunslinger, the man in black had indicated when drawing the Death card that it didn’t apply to Roland. It becomes clear to Roland that he’s the dispenser of death rather than someone who will die. Additionally, the text explains why the third door was labeled “The Pusher.” The pusher was never another name for death or for Roland but the name of Roland’s final mission in the book. Roland, as death, needs to take care of the pusher. While the text resolves the mystery of the death cars and the third door, the identity of the man in black is still nebulous. Roland briefly wonders whether Mort and the man in black are the same, but he abandons the idea. In The Gunslinger, Jake described being pushed into the traffic by a man in black, but Mort is wearing a blue suit when he plans to push Jake.