Book_Analysis_on_the_Dark_Tower

Kevin Cooper Peroid 3. Mrs. Ruggerio 1-22-10 Book Review The Gunlinger The decisions that every human being have to make in there lives will choose there destiny. Making decisions in a journey through life is what the main character, Roland, had to do, and his decisions he made, good or bad, have lead him to his destiny. The book I am doing my book review on is The Gunslinger by Stephen King. I really enjoyed this novel a lot and think a lot of other readers will too. I would recommend this book because of the literary elements of conflict and literary device of forshadowing that the author uses to express his purpose of destiny to the reader. This book would be enjoyed by a reader who wants there imagination to expand, and that like fictional stories about an exciting adventure. The book The Gunslinger takes place on a fictional world that has become a wasteland. It follows a grown gunslinger named Roland. Roland is chasing after a mysterious dark cloaked sorcerer who has killed his father. While chasing him the sorcerer sets up traps that forces Roland to commit evil actions to escape and keep trek to find out the truth and the reason for killing his father. Roland meets a boy who is actually a trap that the sorcerer has set up, the trap causes Roland to become real close to the boy and take him along the journey to confront the dark cloaked sorcerer. Near the ending of the book the trap becomes a decision to let the boy die and confront the sorcerer or save the boy but lose the chance to find out the truth. Roland decides to leave the boy die and the sorcerer reveals that Roland is destined to survive the wasteland and travel to a place named the Dark Tower to find out the secrets of the universe. Stephen King uses conflicts for Roland to fight and the setting of the story to express his purpose that the decisions that you make in your life will choose the destiny for the rest of your life. For example the boy is hanging on to his life and Roland is stuck in the conflict if he should save the boys life or leave him to die and confront the sorcerer, and Roland says to the boy “I shall leave you.”(pg. 191) This example shows the conflict for Roland who has to make a decision to save the boys life or catch the sorcerer. This conflict gives an exciting suspense to the reader that this decision he makes will change Roland’s life and lead him down a certain path. The author creates this conflict to tell the reader that decisions like these are what creates paths in your life, and shows that Roland is serious about the path he wants to continue down. Stephen King creates an awesome setting for this book that helps create an exciting story that also helps explain his purpose for his book. For example he describes that “The world had moved on since then. The world had emptied.”(pg. 11) This shows the reader a sad and broken down world that is very lonely. This means that Roland is very lonely and whats to find out the truth and his destiny for him being still alive. The author creates a setting like this to help express his purpose by telling the reader that there is a destiny for Roland that he is still alive in an emptied world. In the book Stephen King uses symbolism and foreshadowing to tell his purpose of the story that destiny will always lead you in life. An example of symbolism is the boy Jake who symbolizes hope. This shows the reader that the reason Jake has so much knowledge of the world when it was full is because he symbolizes hope that the world can be revived again. This is why it is destiny for the boy to travel with Roland because Roland is the only hope for the world he lives on. Stephen King uses this symbol of hope to give the purpose of the gunslinger’s destiny being the hope for his world to be rescued. In the book the literary device foreshadowing is used to help show the author’s purpose to the reader. An example of foreshadowing is when the Roland has a dream of the boy, Jake, dying. This foreshadows the death of the boy coming up in the story. This gives the reader that the boy destiny is to die on the journey with Roland. It shows that the boy’s death is foreshadowed by a dream that Roland has, in which Roland accepts it as destiny for himself and the boy. The author uses this literary device to tell the reader that destiny might end someone’s life to have someone else’s life reach there destiny. I recommend this book to anyone who likes fictional exciting adventure stories, and when in the mood for a dark book with a purpose to show a deep meaning for life. What I really enjoyed about this book were the exciting fight scenes that made you unable to stop reading. What I disliked about the book was the lack of background information of the setting of the story. I learned that to survive in an evil disgusting world you must be evil as well. This book will open your imagination and make you think about the purpose of life for yourself, and I believe because of this The Gunslinger is a magnificent book to read.