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View Poll Results: Did you feel any sorry for Blaine?

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  • Yes, I did a lot.

    9 6.87%
  • Yes, I did a little.

    47 35.88%
  • No, not at all.

    75 57.25%
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Thread: Blaine - and your feelings about it

  1. #1
    damned and saved Letti will become famous soon enough Letti will become famous soon enough Letti's Avatar

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    Default Blaine - and your feelings about it

    I see that many folks like Blaine very much moreover there are people who feel sorry for him.
    For my part I liked the character because it was interesting and new but I felt no sorry for it at all. For me it was hard to think of me as a train and when I was first reading it I couldn't. Now I can.
    What did he do what he had done with the people in Lud? Was he lonely? Was he insane? Can a robot be insane at all? Have feelings?

    Let's talk about our choo-choo Blain.

    Roland would have understood.

  2. #2
    Numenorean ManOfWesternesse is on a distinguished road ManOfWesternesse's Avatar

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    Blaine was great as a character. It's weird is'nt it that we talk of this train as a 'character' in the book! - very skillful/creative of SK to suck us into that.
    Was I sorry for him - not at all.
    Yes Letti, I believe he was indeed crazy. I think Blaine went well beyond our concept of 'robot'. Of course we are told anyway that 'Blaine' was not just the train we saw, but also (and mainly?) the banks & banks of computers back in Lud (& elsewhere??) that linked to the train.
    Blaine had acquired emotions, and that is what made him more than robot & therefore enabled him to go crazy. (Just as Patricia had emotions & that drove her to suicide (with Blaine's help of course)).

    Would this work in the 'real' universe - No. Does it work in King's universe - hell Yes!
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  3. #3
    Roont jayson is on a distinguished road

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    Quote Originally Posted by ManOfWesternesse View Post
    Blaine was great as a character. It's weird is'nt it that we talk of this train as a 'character' in the book! - very skillful/creative of SK to suck us into that.
    Was I sorry for him - not at all.
    Yes Letti, I believe he was indeed crazy. I think Blaine went well beyond our concept of 'robot'. Of course we are told anyway that 'Blaine' was not just the train we saw, but also (and mainly?) the banks & banks of computers back in Lud (& elsewhere??) that linked to the train.
    Blaine had acquired emotions, and that is what made him more than robot & therefore enabled him to go crazy. (Just as Patricia had emotions & that drove her to suicide (with Blaine's help of course)).

    Would this work in the 'real' universe - No. Does it work in King's universe - hell Yes!
    All very well said Brian. I thought Blaine an ingenious creation on King's part. A psychopathic super-computer personified by a super-luxury monorail... brilliant! As for Letti's question... no, I did not feel a shred of sympathy for Blaine. Crazy or not, there is no excusing what he did to the people of Lud twice-over with the God drums and the going-away present. My feelings echo Jake's, Blaine is a pain.

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    Constant Reader Darkthoughts has a spectacular aura about Darkthoughts has a spectacular aura about Darkthoughts has a spectacular aura about Darkthoughts's Avatar

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    And that is the truth!

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    Roont Matt will become famous soon enough Matt will become famous soon enough Matt's Avatar

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    I had sympathy for the poor thing during the riddles--he really seemed like he was once the height of service to those who built him.

    As time went on, he got lonely and it drove him crazy. Seems kind of tragic to me.

    That's not an excuse, he was a pain when our Katet met him for sure.
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    One who came back Malficeus is on a distinguished road Malficeus's Avatar

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    i liked him he was my favorite character in the series and i felt some remorse for him. his action of lud before his departure i think was right due to how he had been misleading them for so long and completely destoing all life of lud

    "Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they made a difference. The Marines don't have that problem." -PRESIDENT RONALD REAGAN, 1985
    -"We have two companies of MARINES running all over this island and thousands of ARMY troops doing nothing!" -GEN. JOHN VESSEY, CHAIRMAN OF JOINT CHIEFS

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    Wolf Woofer will become famous soon enough Woofer will become famous soon enough Woofer's Avatar

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    How could I not? He was made both sentient and powerful, then "abandoned" first by his makers, then by those who at least knew how to use/interact with him, and finally by Patricia. Tragic, tragic. I think I most felt for him when Roland shows Blaine that he can be rude.

    Still, I think it's quite possible to feel a mix of hate and pity. I also hated Blaine, and I believe he deserved what he got.
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  8. #8
    damned and saved Letti will become famous soon enough Letti will become famous soon enough Letti's Avatar

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    Quote Originally Posted by Woofer View Post
    How could I not?
    I don't know but for me it's quite easy.
    I might be evil but I felt no pity no sorry at all.
    It was a damn great character but just a big speaking crazy toaster.

    Roland would have understood.

  9. #9
    The Tenant Jean has a brilliant future Jean has a brilliant future Jean has a brilliant future Jean has a brilliant future Jean has a brilliant future Jean has a brilliant future Jean has a brilliant future Jean has a brilliant future Jean has a brilliant future Jean has a brilliant future Jean has a brilliant future Jean's Avatar

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    Quote Originally Posted by Letti View Post
    I might be evil but I felt no pity no sorry at all.
    It was a damn great character but just a big speaking crazy toaster.
    I am inclined to feel the same

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  10. #10
    Big Pants; Little Feet Candice Dionysus is a jewel in the rough Candice Dionysus is a jewel in the rough Candice Dionysus is a jewel in the rough Candice Dionysus's Avatar

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    Normally I would keep my feelings on something like this to myself, but its late, and I feel like admitting this.

    I loved Blaine. Really. I mean, Blaine was indeed a pain, and a jerk to boot, but I think that is why I loved it.

    I agree that the character itself seems very tragic, Matt. That seems a good assessment for a hyper-intelligent super-computer/monorail repeatedly abandoned and finally driven to insanity and unspeakable acts.

    And while I do not agree with its course of action, I do feel sadness that it was ever forced to come to that at all. A creation like Blaine should not be left to itself, which was a mistake on the part of its makers. So in that case, I don't believe it was entirely Blaine's fault that it lost the mind (and was able to have festered negative emotion) which it had gained over the years.

    But of course, that does not excuse Blaine of what it did, and was willing to do simply on a whim. It should still be held responsible for its actions, because at one point it did know that such actions were not tolerable or proper.
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  11. #11
    Gunslinger Apprentice Armand St Pierre is on a distinguished road Armand St Pierre's Avatar

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    Quote Originally Posted by Jean View Post
    Quote Originally Posted by Letti View Post
    I might be evil but I felt no pity no sorry at all.
    It was a damn great character but just a big speaking crazy toaster.
    I am inclined to feel the same
    "My name plate medallion Says never trust a hal 9000"

    and on to Andy......

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  12. #12
    Citizen of Gilead ATG is on a distinguished road

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    He didn't present himself as a like-able to me, but he was a unique character. Imean...a talking insane train. Whoda thunkit.
    "The Constitution shall never be construed....to prevent the people of the United States who are peaceable citizens from keeping their own arms" (Samuel Adams, Debates and Proceedings in the Convention of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, 86-87)

  13. #13
    damned and saved Letti will become famous soon enough Letti will become famous soon enough Letti's Avatar

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    Can, I am so happy you wrote down your opinion. Why would you keep your feelings?
    Anyway, you are absolutely right. It wasn't Blaine's fault, of course not. I think we can never blame a toaster or a car or any robots for this or that. That's why I can't hate Blaine, either. Because it wasn't his fault he had no responsibility.

    Roland would have understood.

  14. #14
    Breaker Storyslinger will become famous soon enough Storyslinger will become famous soon enough Storyslinger's Avatar

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    Nope, it was ka.

  15. #15
    damned and saved Letti will become famous soon enough Letti will become famous soon enough Letti's Avatar

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    Quote Originally Posted by Storyslinger View Post
    Nope, it was ka.
    Brian... isn't it way too easy??

    Roland would have understood.

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    Breaker Storyslinger will become famous soon enough Storyslinger will become famous soon enough Storyslinger's Avatar

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    Probably, but, he still was sadistic

  17. #17
    damned and saved Letti will become famous soon enough Letti will become famous soon enough Letti's Avatar

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    I meant it's too wasy to always say "ka" to a question.
    But yes of course Blaine was sadistic.

    Roland would have understood.

  18. #18
    Breaker Storyslinger will become famous soon enough Storyslinger will become famous soon enough Storyslinger's Avatar

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    Tell that to Roland, it does make it easy to answer any question, though.

  19. #19
    Banned obscurejude is on a distinguished road

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    Letti,

    I think he deserves a little blame for being a douche. He's a little more advanced than a toaster and thus capable (to some extent) of making decisions with moral consequences that he understood. I'll give you another example. Andy (messenger robot and many functions) was also a douche. But Nigel (domestic) was really nice to Susannah in Fedic and she felt really bad about shooting his eyes out. King even describes her remorse by noting that Susannah began to think of Nigel as "him" rather than "it" after he helped her to the New York/Fedic door.

  20. #20
    damned and saved Letti will become famous soon enough Letti will become famous soon enough Letti's Avatar

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    I wish I could tell him.

    Roland would have understood.

  21. #21
    Banned obscurejude is on a distinguished road

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    kaka

  22. #22
    Roont jayson is on a distinguished road

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    Quote Originally Posted by obscurejude View Post
    I'll give you another example. Andy (messenger robot and many functions) was also a douche. But Nigel (domestic) was really nice to Susannah in Fedic and she felt really bad about shooting his eyes out. King even describes her remorse by noting that Susannah began to think of Nigel as "him" rather than "it" after he helped her to the New York/Fedic door.
    exactly OJ. how 'bout stuttering bill as well. both of those showed that not all A.I. in the multiverse are sadistic sociopaths.

  23. #23
    Constant Reader Darkthoughts has a spectacular aura about Darkthoughts has a spectacular aura about Darkthoughts has a spectacular aura about Darkthoughts's Avatar

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    Quote Originally Posted by Armand St Pierre View Post
    "My name plate medallion Says never trust a hal 9000"
    My computer is called Hal, I sometimes wonder if thats tempting fate

  24. #24
    Banned obscurejude is on a distinguished road

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    Yeah R of G. Another good example. Nigel was cool as hell.

  25. #25
    Banned obscurejude is on a distinguished road

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    Quote Originally Posted by Darkthoughts View Post
    Quote Originally Posted by Armand St Pierre View Post
    "My name plate medallion Says never trust a hal 9000"
    My computer is called Hal, I sometimes wonder if thats tempting fate
    That would scare the hal out of me.

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