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In the beginning of 'The Drawing of The Three,' the second novel in 'The Gunslinger' series by Stephen King, the gunslinger, Roland, finds himself struggling to stay alive. He has opened a door from his world, which is parallel to Earth. This door leads into the mind and life of a desperate man named Eddie, who is on a jet with cocaine taped on his chest.
Roland is able to bring Eddie into his world. Eddie goes into the latrine and hurriedly rips the bags of cocaine off and hides them in Roland's world. Meanwhile airline employees pound on the door to try to get him out of the latrine. They know if he's carrying drugs there's no way he can get rid of them in that small latrine. But he does.
Eddie, the addict, spends 4 hours detained, but ends up being released by the puzzled drug enforcement agents who just know he was carrying but can't prove it. Unfortunately for Roland, the addict refuses to help him until Roland helps him deliver the cocaine. He does give him a cola drink, which, to Roland's dying body on the other side of the gate seems wonderful.
The reason the addict wants to deliver the cocaine is because his brother is being held by a mobster who will kill him if the cocaine isn't delivered. Roland of Gilead uses this door into the addict's world to keep both of them alive. The addict tells the mobster after they do a body cavity search on him that he can walk right into that bathroom naked and come back out miraculously with the cocaine. They let him go into the bathroom, but when he comes out he doesn't come with the drugs and he doesn't come alone.
The suspense Stephen King generally builds in his books is kept up in 'The Drawing of The Three.' But added to the suspense is an irony that builds and builds. The gunslinger is a lean tough fighter bad to the last stringy muscle. He reaches out to a heroin addict centuries ahead of him in learning and technology. His body craves the sustenance of food and medication. The addict, on the other hand, has all the amenities of our highly developed world. He lacks the one thing Roland of Gilead does not, the instinct to survive. Eddie is killing himself with a substance that controls his very will to live. But in return for saving his life, Roland is willing to teach him the art of gun slinging. He'll give Eddie a sense of purpose. The two will head out in search of the Dark Tower.
Eddie, of course, is only one of the three Roland of Gilead must draw. The next I will discuss in my next article. I think the symbiosis here between Roland and Eddie, gunslinger and heroin addict, is interesting. Both men are involved with some of the most unsavory characters of their world and their time. Of course the mobsters Eddie's carrying the cocaine for on the flight turn out to be soft compared to Roland. They live in a world where they can afford to be slow on the draw. It's easy to order out for fine cuisine, which makes them fat and lazy. In most other circumstances these mobsters would dominate their surroundings. It is entertaining to see how they react to the surprises coming their way. Roland of Gilead is ready to bump heads with any man, magician or beast that comes his way.
