macing face of Sheb peered over her shoulder like a witch's familiar. She was his shield and sacrifice. He saw it all, clear and shadowless in the frozen deathless light of the sterile clam and heard her:"He's got me O Jesus don't shoot don't shoot don't don't don't—"But the hands were trained. He was the last of his breed and it was not only his mouth that knew the High Speech. The guns beat their heavy, atonal music into the air. Her mouth flapped and she sagged and the guns fired again. Sheb's head snapped back. They both fell into the dust.Once again the question is phrased, what kind of hero would do this. He killed the woman he love, this Allie. Rather than leave to save her and spare the town, he decides to take it upon himself to kill them. Roland also kills his immediate family. This is not learned until the fourth book but it ties in with this scenario. In first book of the Dark Tower Saga, we learn of the death of Roland's best friend Cuthbert. He is gunned down by the Gunslinger as well. Nothing else is mentioned about this however. But an interesting comparison between Kings book and Browning's poem is that in both, Cuthbert dies at Roland's hands, and also that he is a very untrusting, scared or even lost character as Browning's poem opens with: Corkery 4My first thought was, he lied in every word.that hoary cripple with malicious eyeaskance to watch the working of his lie. (Browning)We see striking similarities between Kings book and Browning poem. At first you may not see the actual sameness between the two, but after reading both several times, you will see just how deep King read into his works, and how closely he has followed things that Browning implied.Roland lets his adopted son, who he comes to love, plummet to his death in order to continue his quest by meeting the Man in Black. The Man in Black gives him an option. Renounce the tower or kill the boy. He must make a dec...
