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Thread: Randall Flagg - discussion of the character and his many guises

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    Default Randall Flagg - discussion of the character and his many guises

    After reading the series, did you have a little more sympathy for Walter than you did when you began?

    He wasn't born pure evil like the Crimson King or Rhea, he had a really horrific thing happen to him when he was young, and he still had remnants of humanity left to him. And there's of course his scene with Callahan, which to me sticks out as probably one of his best moments in the series.

    It doesn't balance all the evil things he's done but it does tip the scales slightly.
    Last edited by Darkthoughts; 12-28-2008 at 12:07 PM.
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    Nah, I had no sympathy for him. People have gone through far worse things than he ever did, and turned out okay. Although to his credit, you never hear him use that as an excuse for who he is.

    So, no, not sympathy, but maybe some sort of understanding. I think Walter is one of few characters in the entire series that truly knows and understands his true nature, and goes with it.



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    no, i don't. He chose his path. He could have changed his path at anytime but went forward as he was. Don't get me wrong, I love the charcter of walter, I just don't see him as sympathic.



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    I like the character but I have no sympathy for him. I think I would like him less if I did. I think I have more sympathy for the Spider-Bitch Mordred more than I do for Walter.

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    Roont jayson is on a distinguished road

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    Honestly, yes. Only for a moment, and only for Walter Paddick the boy. Walter the man, not at all.

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    Though I may have disagreed with the way the man lived his life, I felt sympathy for the way the man met his end. I was a shameful way to go, and as I've said before, one I would change if given the chance. Do I think the man deserved to die, of course, he was a vile murdering traitor. Just not in the way he went.

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    I'm not sure he was a sympathetic character but I did feel for him. In the way you feel for a shark caught in a fish net.
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    Quote Originally Posted by MonteGss View Post
    I think I have more sympathy for the Spider-Bitch Mordred more than I do for Walter.
    Because he suffered? Walter suffered as well. Becuase he had moments of humanity? Walter had moments of humanity as well.

    King paid more attention to the "Boo hoo, Mordred is all alone" subplot and only gave Walter one sentence about his personal trauma. Had King focused a bit more on Walter's childhood and his rape he'd probably get a bit more sympathy.

    And at the very least, Walter wasn't born evil. The first thing Mordred did was and eat and kill his own mother, a mother who gave up her immortality for a chance to raise and love him. I don't see how you can get more horrific than that.
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    Quote Originally Posted by CyberGhostface View Post
    The first thing Mordred did was and eat and kill his own mother
    That was a very touching scene...I'm getting a little vaklempt....
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    Quote Originally Posted by maerlyn View Post
    no, i don't. He chose his path. He could have changed his path at anytime but went forward as he was. Don't get me wrong, I love the charcter of walter, I just don't see him as sympathic.
    Couldn't have said it better myself.
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    We know very little about Walter's life from his childhood to where he is today. I don't think he said "I'll become evil". It was probably a gradual process.
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    The point I think maer and She Oy are making though is that, even if you are a victim of something as horrific as child abuse - you don't have to let that govern the path in life you will take.

    You can chose to say "This has happened to me, but i won't remain a victim of my past." Whereas Walter seemingly thought "This has happened to me, now everyone that crosses my path shall suffer, as I have suffered." I think you need to be of tht sort of mindset to begin with, to make those sorts of choices.

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    Let me throw something else out there..maybe his rape has zero to do with his lifes choices and he just over a period of time realized that most folk need a serious, righteous fucking over and he was glad to oblige. It could be as simple as that.
    "It's his eyes, Roland thought. They were wide and terrible, the eyes of a dragon in human form" - Roland seeing the Crimson King for the first time.

    "When the King comes and the Tower falls, sai, all such pretty things as yours will be broken. Then there will be darkness and nothing but the howl of Discordia and the cries of the can toi" - From Song of Susannah

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    Quote Originally Posted by All_Hail_The_Crimson_King View Post
    Let me throw something else out there..maybe his rape has zero to do with his lifes choices and he just over a period of time realized that most folk need a serious, righteous fucking over and he was glad to oblige. It could be as simple as that.
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    Quote Originally Posted by All_Hail_The_Crimson_King View Post
    Let me throw something else out there..maybe his rape has zero to do with his lifes choices and he just over a period of time realized that most folk need a serious, righteous fucking over and he was glad to oblige. It could be as simple as that.
    Hear him very well. It's a bit too easy methinks to write off Walter as a victim. I could just as easily believe Walter was just a dick, and rape or not, would have grown up to become the mega-dick he became.

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    I'm just glad you didn't say he was raped by a megadick
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    Don't encourage him! *slaps Story*

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    Quote Originally Posted by Darkthoughts View Post
    I think you need to be of tht sort of mindset to begin with, to make those sorts of choices.
    Quote Originally Posted by R_of_G View Post
    Hear him very well. It's a bit too easy methinks to write off Walter as a victim. I could just as easily believe Walter was just a dick, and rape or not, would have grown up to become the mega-dick he became.
    I said that too ^_^

  21. #21
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    Quote Originally Posted by Darkthoughts View Post
    Quote Originally Posted by Darkthoughts View Post
    I think you need to be of tht sort of mindset to begin with, to make those sorts of choices.
    Quote Originally Posted by R_of_G View Post
    Hear him very well. It's a bit too easy methinks to write off Walter as a victim. I could just as easily believe Walter was just a dick, and rape or not, would have grown up to become the mega-dick he became.
    I said that too ^_^
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  22. #22
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    Quote Originally Posted by Darkthoughts View Post
    The point I think maer and She Oy are making though is that, even if you are a victim of something as horrific as child abuse - you don't have to let that govern the path in life you will take.

    You can chose to say "This has happened to me, but i won't remain a victim of my past." Whereas Walter seemingly thought "This has happened to me, now everyone that crosses my path shall suffer, as I have suffered." I think you need to be of tht sort of mindset to begin with, to make those sorts of choices.
    True, but its not always that easy. Walter was (presumably) living all alone by himself. I'm not an expert on rape, but I thought most victims usually depend on support from their friends and family to get through the trauma, which Walter probably didn't have. And of course maybe he wasn't strong enough. 90% of the serial killers I've read it about usually had some sort of horrible thing happen to them when they were young. They don't just suddenly go "I'm going to start killing today." (Well, some of them do...)

    Quote Originally Posted by R_of_G View Post
    It's a bit too easy methinks to write off Walter as a victim. I could just as easily believe Walter was just a dick, and rape or not, would have grown up to become the mega-dick he became.
    I don't think he would have become the way he did if he wasn't raped anymore than Ed Gein would have become the way he did if he didn't have an extremely overbearing mother who threatened to cut off his penis.
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    Quote Originally Posted by CyberGhostface View Post
    I don't think he would have become the way he did if he wasn't raped anymore than Ed Gein would have become the way he did if he didn't have an extremely overbearing mother who threatened to cut off his penis.
    It's certainly possible that Walter's rape made him the sociopath we encounter in the stories. What we don't know though is what pre-rape Walter was like. It's not like we were told that he was a happy-go-lucky young man who never had a care in the world until he was violated. He could have been the kind of kid who tortures and mutilates animals, another thing serial killers do.

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    And the other thing about serial killers in general is that they usually have some sort of brain disorder to boot.

    Brain disorder + childhood abuse = serial killer

    So maybe Walter was unbalanced to begin with.



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    "You needn't die happy when your day comes, but you must die satisfied, for you have lived your life from beginning to end and ka is always served." ~ Roland Deschain

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    walter is one of my fave characters in the series and i was very disappointed with his fairly shitty death. i sympathise with the guy because in my eyes he's helping roland along the way and then a dumb newborn freak has him for dinneh

    oh and how do i start a new thread cos i cant figure this out at all..

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