Stephen King´s "The Dark Tower": a modern myth
Abstract: This essay analyzes the elements of myth within Stephen King's "The Dark
Tower", his "magnum opus", which spans seven volumes and was written over
the course of 32 years. The tools for the analysis were mainly borrowed from
Joseph Campbell: in particular his idea of the monomyth - the basic plot
structure universal for all myths.
The myth of Roland, the gunslinger in Stephen King's novels, differs
little from ancient myths - like the epic of Gilgamesh - when it comes down
to the most fundamental structure. Roland, however, is a hero for modern
times, and the moral content of his myth is different: a fact that this
essay pays special attention to, for no myth is complete without a poignant
moral payload.
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