The Drawing of the Three

Handsome and sarcastic, Eddie Dean is the second protagonist of The Drawing of the Three. A double or a foil to Roland, Eddie is as voluble as Roland is laconic. Eddie is 20 years of age at the start of the novel, though he tries to hide his youth with brashness and a slick exterior. Like Roland, Eddie begins the novel in a state of crisis. He must smuggle cocaine into New York City to save his older brother, Henry, from criminals. The move proves fruitless, and Henry dies, leaving Eddie mired in grief. Sensing an escape in Roland’s offer to join his quest, Eddie enters Roland’s world. The tarot card that represents Eddie, which is called “The Prisoner,” depicts a man with a vicious baboon gripping his back. The baboon is ostensibly a metaphor for Eddie’s drug use but is also a symbol of his unhealthy attachment to Henry. Although Henry may have been emotionally manipulative, Eddie has hero-worshipped him all his life. The symbol of the prison has similar associations. In the limbo world of the beach, Eddie deals with both his dependence on drugs and his complex emotions about Henry. Eddie’s character arc involves outgrowing the “prison” of these complex attachments.

Eddie can be cynical and self-serving, especially when he mocks Roland and threatens him. However, Eddie is also altruistic. He saves Roland’s life by procuring antibiotics for him and pulls Roland along the beach when he falters. Eddie’s redemption involves learning to love others selflessly, as he does with Odetta Holmes. After Eddie falls in love with her, he willingly risks his life to ensure her safety, a significant change in character given that in an earlier section, he threatened to kill Roland. Eddie represents the redemptive power of love and the innocence of youth. In addition, he infuses irreverence and humor into the proceedings through his pop-culture references and snarky comments. For instance, when a Customs officer notes that Eddie keeps looking sideways at something, which (unknown to the officer) is the first doorway, Eddie retorts, “‘From time to time I need an antidote’ […] ‘From what?’ ‘Your face’” (102).

While Eddie’s decision-making can be poor, others often note his strength of character. For instance, Roland comments that Eddie has “deep steel” in him. This steel is a symbol for Eddie’s inherent courage. In addition, he’s keenly intelligent, as reflected in his debates with Roland over the concept of destiny. The flip side of his argumentative nature is that Eddie tends to debate for the sake of it, as during his uncomfortable conversations over race with Odetta. She thinks Eddie “should be in the debate club anyway” (271). Moreover, Eddie’s strongest quality is also his weakness: his capacity for trust. His unquestioning trust in Henry led Eddie to drug use, but his trust in Odetta leads to his redemption. At the end, Eddie chooses to trust Roland despite the fact that Roland may always value his quest over Eddie. The narrative suggests that Eddie must balance his trustful nature with pragmatism. Eddie is a dynamic character who is transformed through love and friendship.

The novel’s third protagonist, Odetta Holmes is a young woman in her twenties who also goes by the names Detta Walker and Susannah Dean. Odetta is described as beautiful and soft-spoken, and she has warm brown eyes. An heiress, Odetta is also a 1964 civil rights activist. She has a traumatic past since she was attacked with a brick by a serial killer when she was a child, which left her in a coma for a while. Later, when she was in her early twenties, Odetta was pushed in front of a train by Jack Mort, the same serial killer. Her legs were amputated during this incident, and she now uses a wheelchair. Odetta is described as having dissociative identity disorder (though the text refers to the condition as multiple personality disorder or schizophrenia, two entirely unrelated conditions) as the result of the first attack. The second attack makes her other identity, Detta Walker, stronger. Odetta is the second person whom Roland draws for his ka-tet, or destined fellowship. Her card is titled “The Lady of Shadows,” which suggests both her hidden and manifest aspects, Detta and Odetta. Her journey involves coming out of the shadows and accepting herself. Roland often calls Odetta “the Lady.”

The text presents Odetta and Detta as exact opposites, underscoring the motif of doubles and pairs. While Odetta is graceful, intellectual, and political, Detta is wild, amoral, and apolitical. Odetta speaks in a measured tone, while Detta talks in a caricature of a dialect. Detta’s amorality is symbolized by her habit of shoplifting trifles, most of which she throws away because “the taking [is] what matter[s]” (248). In terms of Freudian psychoanalysis, Detta represents the hidden id, or the unconscious part of the brain dominated by instinct and impulse. When Odetta is first brutally attacked, Detta emerges as the brain’s protective mechanism. The fact that Detta deeply mistrusts white people indicates that she symbolizes anger against the racist biases that she has experienced. While Detta’s anger against white people is a valid subject to explore, its portrayal is so extreme that the effect is lost. When Detta emerges on the beach, she’s shown yelling and cursing in an exaggerated, stereotypical way.

Just as the journey through the doorways proves transformative for Roland and Eddie, so it does for Odetta/Detta. When Detta first enters the door, she briefly glimpses Odetta, becoming aware of her capacity for good. This awareness is reflected in her feeling of pity for Eddie, even as she’s stalking him. Odetta, who is used to keeping her deepest hurts to herself, becomes more vocal and assertive when talking to Eddie on the beach, which foreshadows a change in her as well. Odetta falls in love with Eddie, which signals that love will transform her. Toward the end of the novel, Roland signals to Detta to look through the doorway as he’s looking at her. When Detta looks at Roland, she sees herself through his eyes because of the door’s intractable magic. She sees both of her aspects and accepts them. The new identity she chooses is Susannah Dean, drawn from Odetta’s middle name and Eddie’s last name. Susannah thus symbolizes the birth and forging of a new self. In terms of self-growth, Odetta is the novel’s most dynamic character, as she undergoes the greatest change. In her new, self-accepting form, Susannah is brave and loving.