The Dark Tower I: The Gunslinger

Stephen King’sThe Gunslinger is the first in a series of eight novels comprising The Dark Tower series. The Gunslinger introduces the protagonist, anti-hero Roland Deschain, and his journey to find The Man in Black. Combining genre elements of horror, fantasy, and western, The Gunslinger is ultimately a travel narrative highlighting Roland’s physical and metaphysical quest to kill the Man in Black and find the mysterious tower.

The Gunslinger takes place in a world like our own but not. While the multiple references to iconic popular culture—such as characters singing The Beatles’ “Hey Jude,” and innumerous allusions to Christianity and religious language—offera sense of familiarity, the setting is apost-apocalyptic desert that resembles the Old West. This, combined with the fact that Roland is a western gunslinger from a King Arthurian-type feudal society, creates a distorted sense of time and place. It’s never made clear whether the story takes place in the past, present, or future, or whether it’s happening in an alternate universe or some sort of afterlife. Further adding to this sense of disorientation is the fact that little is known about Roland, including his age, motives, or goals.