Roland Deschain - Relations With Other Characters

Relations With Other Characters

Roland's chief enemy is Randall Flagg, a villain who appears in many of King's works. Flagg's character appears in many different incarnations throughout the series. He is a minion of the Crimson King himself, though he is ultimately hoping to overthrow him. He is often at the heart of most conflicts with Roland throughout the Gunslinger's lifetime.

His relationships with his ka-tet change greatly over the course of the story. When he first 'draws' Eddie from the human world, Roland dislikes him for being a drug addict and constantly complaining about his plight. After Eddie beats his addiction, however, he starts to care for him more and more and eventually Roland regards him as something between a son and a brother. His relationship with Susannah follows the same pattern: though he is initially wary of her second personality, Detta, after her personalities 'merge' into Susannah he gets to know her better and grows to care deeply for her. His relationship with Jake is perhaps the deepest, initially seeing the boy as a trustworthy and strong companion, but eventually regarding him as his true son. Roland, already scarred by the deaths of all his childhood friends — who all died helping him to get closer to the tower — he is shown to be emotionally devastated by Eddie's and especially Jake's death, weeping openly (something Eddie mentioned before did not happen often, if at all).

Roland cries out all their names — both his first and second Ka-Tet's — when he reaches the door of the Dark Tower, along with other characters whom he cared for in some way or another: Susan Delgado, Roland's first (and only true) love, who was killed while he was in Mejis; Father Callahan, who was also a member of Roland's second Ka-Tet, albeit for a much shorter time; Hax the cook, whom Roland betrayed to the gunslingers because he was a traitor, something that deeply affected Roland; his teachers Cort and Vannay; his parents' names; the name of David the Hawk, whom Roland used in the trial for his revolvers; and the name of Aunt Talitha of River Crossing, whose cross he lays at the base of the tower. He also cries the names of Ted Brautigan and Dinky Earnshaw, two 'Breakers' who helped him and his friends greatly; the name of Sheemie Ruiz, one of Roland's longest-surviving friends; and that of Oy, the billy-bumbler, a ka-tet member who died saving Roland's life from Mordred Deschain.