The Dark Tower I: The Gunslinger

“An occasional tombstone sign pointed the way, for once the drifted track that cut its way through the thick crust of alkali had been a highway. Coaches and buckas had followed it. The world had moved on since then. The world had emptied.” 

This quote, which is found immediately at the start of the novel, illustrates how the setting is similar to our world, with its recognizable features, yet also different. This image conjures the post-apocalyptic visions that remain consistent throughout the rest of the novel.

“Had he been a Manni holy man, he might not have even been thirsty; he could have watched his own body dehydrate with clinical, detached attention, watering its crevices and dark inner hollows only when his logic told him it must be done. He was not a Manni, however, nor a follower of the Man Jesus, and considered himself in no way holy. He was just an ordinary pilgrim, in other words, and all he could say with real certainty was that he was thirsty.” 

This moment further reveals how this world is like ours but not, and also demonstrates early on one of the first Christian allusions that can be found in the novel. Although this world has talk of the “Man Jesus” and the idea of being holy, the gunslinger makes it a point to say that he is not holy. Furthermore, although the novel constantly alludes to Christian language, the novel’s characters’ idea of Christianity is never fully explained. In this way, connecting the idea of being holy to the premise of being good isn’t a logical step in this world because the reader never fully understands what this world’s concept of holy is, despite our preconceived notions of the idea in our own world. 

“Small signs like this, once more affirming the man in black’s possible humanity, never failed to please him.” 

This moment comes right after the gunslinger finds an old campfire presumably left by the Man in Black. For much of the novel, the Man in Black appears to be a wizard-like man with magical powers, so the fact that he still needs a campfire for warmth, comfort, or food makes the gunslinger feel better, and as though he’s not chasing a phantom but rather a real person.