destruction of the world

[Wigz]

So early on in the series, you think that roland is going to the tower to save the world, to stop his universe (and all subsequent universes) from falling apart/ destruction etc etc. But then, he reaches and everything changes, he gets stuck doing it all over again... can someone please help me understand this dilemma! on a side note its been 2 months since i finished reading and i still come up with this stuff.....blargh!

also who is bango skank?

[John Blaze]

Maybe it'd be best if a mod just added spoilers to the thread title. Judging by the subject, there's gonna be alot, and it would make it clearer to go back and forth.

I'll return later.

[Jean]

No, this forum is for DT7, so it is a spoiler forum by default. Likewise, spoilers don't have to - and for the sake of readability shouldn't - be marked in the posts, unless they refer to books other than the DT.

[pathoftheturtle]

So early on in the series, you think that roland is going to the tower to save the world, to stop his universe (and all subsequent universes) from falling apart/ destruction etc etc. But then, he reaches and everything changes, he gets stuck doing it all over again... can someone please help me understand this dilemma! on a side note its been 2 months since i finished reading and i still come up with this stuff.....blargh!

also who is bango skank? :unsure: What "stuff" ...? I'm not quite sure just what it might be that you are trying to ask. :unsure:
dilemma /noun/ 1. A situation that requires a choice between options that are or seem equally unfavorable or mutually exclusive.
2. Usage Problem A problem that seems to defy a satisfactory solution.
3. Logic An argument that presents two alternatives, each of which has the same consequence. :unsure:

For general insights on possible meaning of the series and its conclusion, try reading from these threads:

That Thing, You Can Only Talk About If You've Finished the Series (http://www.thedarktower.org/palaver/showthread.php?t=1778)
The Official End Thread (http://www.thedarktower.org/palaver/showthread.php?t=376)
Roland: Saved or Damned? (http://www.thedarktower.org/palaver/showthread.php?t=612)

(BTW: Bango Skank, IMO, is basically just Stephen King himself, who sometimes can't resist being a smartass.)

[Jean]

(BTW: Bango Skank, IMO, is basically just Stephen King himself, who sometimes can't resist being a smartass.)
http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k291/mishemplushem/Facilitation/bear_thumb.gifhttp://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k291/mishemplushem/Facilitation/bear_thumb.gifhttp://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k291/mishemplushem/Facilitation/bear_thumb.gif

[John Blaze]

No, this forum is for DT7, so it is a spoiler forum by default. Likewise, spoilers don't have to - and for the sake of readability shouldn't - be marked in the posts, unless they refer to books other than the DT.
:clap:

Ill come post in here later, I promise, just kind of in a rush right now.

[pathoftheturtle]

<--Still trying to see the point. Is a true dilemma implied? Perhaps it will help to keep trying to clarify the meaning of that word. For example, one would be presenting a dilemma if they said, “I cannot decide whether TDT is a good series with a lousy ending or a lousy series with a good beginning.” :lol:

One clear formulation -–
First premise: Roland only wants to preserve existence.
Second premise: Gan punishes him in the end.
Conclusions:
If Gan punishes good acts, and He is the Creator and ultimate authority over the multiverse, then trying to do good and/or find peace and happiness is hopeless.
On the other hand, if trying to preserve existence is NOT good, but in fact is an act deserving punishment, then existence must be evil and hopeless, inherently.

So there’s a true dilemma: An argument that presents two alternatives, each of which has the same consequence. In this case, they are alternatives of interpretation, both of which likely strike most of us as definitely unfavorable. Can we resolve it? Well, we might question those premises upon which it depends. Perhaps Roland has some other motive which we don’t know about. If he intends to demand a pot of gold or something, then it would not be so unacceptable for his greed to be punished. If we choose to believe that he truly is purely altruistic, however, then another option to consider is that perhaps what we saw happen to him is not a punishment. I have suggested before that Roland’s cycle may be part of the work of preserving and extending life and the multiverse. Is it unjust that he should have to make such efforts to secure the universal good, rather than simply having it delivered on a silver platter? Perhaps… yet is not altruism precisely the unselfish desire to participate in good work? If so, then is fulfillment of that desire punishment or favor? I guess we should be careful what we wish for. Then we will have no further dilemma… :unsure: … right?

I suggested once, on another website, that life can seem meaningless to all of us at times, when we are tired of working day in and day out, and that that common feeling is a worthwhile theme to explore in a work of fiction.

A clear purpose may give meaning to an individual, but some other people usually regard all explanation of any such thing as some form of fanaticism. We may always be socially stuck with uncertainty... and perhaps that is good. :| All that I know is... all that I know, of course. lol

I'd also recommend (and humbly request) checking out, and voting on, this thread: The-oh-so-perfect ending - possible? (http://www.thedarktower.org/palaver/showthread.php?t=1862) (I may end up repeating there some of what I just posted here, if Jean does not decide to merge these.)

[Empath of the White]

Its a morbid train of thought, but I feel that on some level Gan shared the King's mentality (or what Mordred figured the Crimson King's motive was for wanting to destroy the Dark Tower) that All-World was pretty fucked up by the Old People and their wars...and for Roland to triumph against the King and save the existences...that would cause all those inhabiting those existences or levels of the Tower to continue on in misery or continue a headlong rush into a tragedy similar to what was experienced by All-World during and after the Old People got nuked off.

So by letting the Tower fall, there'd be the chance for a fresh start of sorts. :scared:

Sai King gave us a wonderful ending, I think. There's quite a bit you can conclude from it, and much of what you surmise could be entirely different from another person's interpretation.