The Drawing of the Three

The novel’s final section is packed with fast-paced action sequences and satisfying conclusions. The text illustrates and highlights key themes, and the end sets the stage for the plot to continue in the next book, as befits a volume in a series. The trope of real gunslingers versus corrupt and ignoble cops gains more prominence in this section. Law enforcement agents and police officers have had guest appearances throughout the novel, often as incompetent, emptily raging, or irresponsible. This section magnifies that pattern with the introduction of the officers at the ammunitions shop. They idly lounge near the shop and make mocking comments about Mort as he approaches the shop. Mort’s genteel appearance makes them think he’s too soft, and one of them says in a patronizing tone, “I think he juht dethided on the lavender handcuffths” (388). The officers badly misread Mort, a serial killer, and dismiss him, revealing their poor observation skills. Later, Roland easily fools them, noting that their skills are rusty and calling them “slow and unobservant” (400). To Roland, the cops are still worth saving because they’re “gunslingers, men who had tried to help a stranger in trouble” (401). However, his pity for the officers turns to contempt when the two open fire on Katz’s pharmacy. Shocked, Roland notes that “they can’t know if there are still innocent people in here or not […] and yet they used a scatter-rifle just the same” (426). Roland’s shock is a comment on real-life police brutality and also establishes how the code of ethics he follows is very different from the shifty morals of the cops.

The vivid, rich descriptions of Roland incapacitating the cops at the ammo store and then grabbing his medicines at the pharmacy illustrate the text’s strength in building action. The sequence in which Roland commandeers Mort to the subway station and eventually throws him under the A-train is another example of the writer’s expertise in establishing set pieces and fast-moving scenes. Throughout these sequences, Roland shows exactly why he’s the one gunslinger of his world to have survived. In these scenes, Roland is pure focus and motion, fixated on his goals of killing Mort, getting life-saving meds for himself and guns for Eddie and Odetta, and reconciling Odetta with Detta. When Roland kills Mort, he’s actually throwing himself in Mort’s body under the train. He must leave Mort’s body at the very second Mort dies or risk being extinguished himself. At the same time, he must also get Detta to look at him: “[I]n the last split-second before the train ran [Mort] down, cutting him in two […] Roland lunged at the door and through it” (439). Since the ammo and meds are in Mort’s underwear, the part below his waist that faces the door, Roland can take the parcel with him back to his world. The shocking, graphic moment of Mort’s death is a satisfying conclusion and a version of the fantasy trope of the knight slaying the dragon. The monster slayed, the world is briefly restored and healed.

At the point of Mort’s death, Detta looks at the doorway and notices Odetta. Since Mort, the one who caused Odetta’s trauma, is dead, Detta and Odetta can unite. Their merging symbolizes a catharsis. However, in reality, the notion of “curing” dissociation is dubious. A chronic condition, dissociation can be managed through targeted therapy and medication. Here, the resolution of dissociated selves is better seen in metaphorical terms: It symbolizes an acceptance of all parts of one’s self, the good and the morally gray.

Mort’s brutal ending and Roland’s cold treatment of him are signs of justice at work. Roland makes it clear that he commandeers Mort’s body despite Mort’s protests because “Mort [is] a monster” (383). The previous section described Mort as killing for pleasure, and the travel through his mind proved so terrible for Roland that he fainted. Mort’s crimes are even more reprehensible because they often targeted children, including five-year-old Odetta or 12-year-old Jake. Roland therefore feels free to approach Mort as a means to an end, using Mort’s mind as a cross between “atlas and encyclopedia” (383), for which Roland coins the term “Mortcypedia,” adding a note of humor to the text. Roland’s search and retrieval of information from Mort’s mind is prescient of internet search engines like Google (the first search engine was invented in 1991 but wasn’t for public use). In addition to terms like “Mortcypedia,” the text uses pop-culture references as a source of humor. One of the police officers is shown in a future timeline as mistaking the protagonist of the movie The Terminator for Roland in Mort’s body. The joke is that the lead character is a humanlike android, and Arnold Schwarzenegger, the actor playing the part, is famously known for his deadpan dialogue delivery.

The conclusion, “Final Shuffle,” alludes to the shuffling of cards in general and the Tarot deck in particular. Both decks symbolize chance and destiny, alluding to the theme of The Relationship Between Destiny and Free Will, and the act of shuffling cards symbolizes the time before cards are drawn and played. It’s a period of preparation, rest, and interlude. In addition, it’s a time of assessment, suspense, and anticipation. During this interlude, the three gunslingers come together, forming a real team. Before their next action-packed and dangerous mission, they regain their strength and climb a mountain. Since mountains and journeys symbolize a pilgrimage, their ascent seems sacred, a move to come closer to a greater spiritual reality. The tone here is meditative and relatively peaceful, as the characters leave the setting of the beach and lobstrosities behind. The landscape of green mountains filled with deer juxtaposes the hallucinatory monster-filled expanse of the beach. As the novel ends, the characters grow sentimental, and Roland tells Eddie, “I love you both” (452), revealing how redemption has changed him and thematically underscoring The Redemptive Power of Friendship and Love. Although Roland still feels that he’d choose the tower over a loved one, he admits that he’s capable of love. Thus, the novel ends on an ambiguous note. While Roland feels a kinship with Eddie and Susannah, he’s still plagued by “angry dreams” about the Dark Tower (454), thematically signifying The Complex Nature of a Quest. This foreshadows that Roland will continue to grapple with the question of love versus duty as the series continues.