Roland - General discussion

[Matt]

I totally agree, it's just a perspective.

I think I'd probably do it to a bird if I had to, but not a boy.

[Brice]

Sacrifice is sacrifice I think...if there is a god (which at least for the purpose of the story we must accept). Sacrificing even one for the masses (even if it's all of creation) isn't the way to save anything. The reality about a greater good is there never is one if it doesn't rely on each individual.

[Matt]

I agree on every single level of the Tower Brice-great post.

[Darkthoughts]

Yes Brice, you wonderful old hippie, beautifully put

[Brice]

Thank you!

[Bumbler19]

I said he can make love with any woman he meets, i mean... he can hypnotize people pretty damn well. XD

But if would he is the question... I would say Roland is for the most part an Opportunist, He is going to take whoever is easiest, and less of a hassle or will get him something in return (IE: older divorced/widow) At least he is this way at his adult age.

Younger, I would say he needs feeling... the whore... was just like... ya know, making sure you knew what you were doing when you did it the first time with the one you love.

IMO

[LadyHitchhiker]

I think in every instance except Rosa and Susan, he basically just had sex with them and THEN developed which way or not of whether he loved them, so it was definitely more sex than making love.

[klokateer]

(sorry if this has been brought up before, I used search to the best of my ability)

How old do you think Roland is?

!!!!!!SPOILER!!!!!!!



Given the cyclical nature of his quest, my mind is apt to fold under the weight of the task of assuming his age.

What are you best guesses/hypothesis?

[sarah]

Hi klokateer and welcome to the site.

Personally, I think Roland is ageless at this point in his quest. His body may possibly be of a man in his forties but how can one actually know? we don't know for sure how many times he's been on his path.

EDIT:

I know this is a really big thread but it is filled with all sorts of good stuff. Take a good ten minutes and go through it when you have a chance.

[klokateer]

Thank you for the direction, and you're thoughts.

[alinda]

Time and the world having moved on I tend to agree with maerlyn here.

Spoiler:

Roland is confronted with a situation that keeps liner time from counting in my
estimation.

Whether 40 or 400 yrs , he is the same man , until he learns what he needs to proceed.




PS Is there another thread with this topic? I think a merge may be coming on

[Jean]

Bears love everyone who has ever asked this question! How Old Is Roland was the first thread I started at .net... memories...

[Letti]

Bears love everyone who has ever asked this question! How Old Is Roland was the first thread I started at .net... memories...

And did you get an answer then?

[candy]

i agree that time i linear, however i believe roland is getting on in years when we first meet him - i believe he is in his fifties

i keep trying to do a spoiler wrap but its not showing, so let me just say i have my reasons

[Jean]

Bears love everyone who has ever asked this question! How Old Is Roland was the first thread I started at .net... memories...

And did you get an answer then?

Much the same as what we can see here. Finally, I found solace in idle speculations, as bears often do.

candy: highlight the text you want to be spoiler marked, and click on the radioactive button. Or else, just type those tags around the text:

[spoiler]text text text [/ spoiler]

- without space after /

[soylentjillian]

I can forgive him for using Susanna and Jake and Eddie and Oy as mere tools to reach his end,

Spoiler:

because he doesn't know that the whole cycle will again start and they will be used again.

I can forgive him because he never knew.

[Letti]

I can forgive him for using Susanna and Jake and Eddie and Oy as mere tools to reach his end,

Spoiler:

because he doesn't know that the whole cycle will again start and they will be used again.

I can forgive him because he never knew.

But why does it make any difference? I mean he did it. He used people. He killed people. He made lots of mistakes... For me it doesn't matter what happens to him at the end. (Still I say I can forgive him but not because of the end at all.)
So why does it make any difference for you?

[alinda]

I see nothing to forgive,altho' I could easily forgive him anything.
To forgive a thing is the first step in overcoming it.
Great question again Letti, and Brice? You rock!

[Cort]

My answer is pretty straight forward, i think there is nothing to forgive him for

Roland came forward as nothing but a projectile, a brainless missile programmed to launch the body he was in at the man in black the instant he saw him

As we are reminded throughout the books Roland is a man of little imagination who with his

damned guns, slow head and quick hands

does everything he has been trained to ,he reacts instinctivly to most situations and does whatever is needed in order to see his goal achieved.

His sacrafices are acceptable considering the stakes are all wordls across all levels of the tower, for Roland the end truly justifies the means.

[KaLikeAWheel]

I could forgive Roland because for the most part he is being used by the Tower as much as he uses anyone else, if not more. He did come a long way through the course of the series.

DT

From the man who let Jake fall to the man who was ready to give up his quest for the tower for no other reason than to save Jake (even though he failed to do so). I believe the loss of Susan robbed Roland of his ability to love, but dropping Jake made him realize he had closed off a part of himself, and therefore, allowed him to be able to open that part of himself back up. Without dropping Jake, he could have never become the man who would give up his quest for the tower and the multiverse to save Jake. In my mind (and my heart) Roland totally redeemed himself when he tried to jump in front of that van to save Jake. As for Susannah and Eddie, they were both essentially broken souls, and without Roland they would have destroyed themselves sooner, rather than later, so there's nothing to fogive there.

That's my opinion, anyway. Great thread!

Donna

[CyberGhostface]

I'm going to say in his mid-30s.

[Mad Man]

well the only way i've been judging Rolands age is with the fall of Gilead - and i really like to think that it was thousands of years before we met Roland in The Gunslinger...

Spoiler:

i need someone to talk with about Roland i can't make out my mind about some things

[candy]

what would you like to talk about mad man?

in regards to rolands age, i still feel he was older due to

Spoiler:

the arthritis that affects him later in the series, the way he is described is also i feel as an older gentleman but young enough to still thrill the ladies - therefore 50s came to mind as athritis is not usuallya young persons desease -

[Mad Man]

about Roland and the loop I can't make up my mind how should i think about it...

Spoiler:

Is Roland older with each "loop"? Or will the dark tower take him back in time? Will he get a new body every time? If he gets a new body then it's kinda maddening - he forgets everything also so it would be like a 100% new start with the small add from the dark tower. Or does he start the new turn with his old body? If so then arthritis would get him killed - and the lack of fingers i have a whole bunch of these questions maddening me and i can't find an explained answer to any of those

[AlishaRiley]

The point made by Candy is one I've not considered, oddly enough, in concern with his age. I've always imagined him as a man is his late 30's, early 40's. Although his

Spoiler:

arthritis

makes me think, now, that he is possibly a little older. It could be mere coincidence, however. The fact that he's a gunslinger, also, could've been part of the reason he developed it at an (arguably) early age.

I think the fact that we're not sure of his age is a good thing - it leaves room for speculation, and we can add our own input, and perceptions into the story. A little mystery is always a good thing, imo.