Duma Key vs. The Gunslinger Stephen King said, in his book Duma Key, "Remember that the truth is in the details. No matter how you see the world or what style it imposes on your work as an artist, the truth is in the details. Of course the devil's there too, everyone says so, but maybe truth and the devil are words for the same thing. It could be you know." I believe this statement describes both of these books. Stephen King’s The Gunslinger and Duma Key are two of my favorites. They are filled with action and adventure. They show how two men with completely different stories get through life and the obstacles they encounter as they try to do this. Even though these books are completely different they do have some similarities. I believe if a reader decides to read one of these books they will also enjoy reading the other one. Although they are completely different the similarities are intriguing. These books are written with exquisite details; you can almost feel the emotions of each character.
The Gunslinger and Duma Key both have a male lead character. In Duma Key the leading male is Edgar Freemantle, and in The Gunslinger it is Roland. Edgar is the owner of a construction company and a considerably wealthy man with two daughters and a loving wife, until a tragic construction accident changes everything. Roland is alone; he has no family and no friends. This doesn’t matter to him because he has been trained to be a gunslinger, or outlaw, since a very young age. A gunslinger is the only thing Roland knows how to be. He is determined to get what he wants and will do whatever it takes to get it.
Both Edgar Freemantle and Roland go on a life changing journey. Edgar sustains head injuries and loses an arm after a construction accident. Unfortunately, his marriage couldn’t survive this tragic event, which causes Edgar to make his move from Minnesota to Duma Key in Florida. He moves so he can start a new life and learn to live with the changes that he now has to endure. Roland’s quest, on the other hand, is more spiritual. He has been on this spiritual journey towards the Dark Tower, which is his final destination, for so long he has a hard time keeping up with the time and date. Roland is after the Man in Black because he holds his destination in his hands.
These books are full of the supernatural. In Duma Key whenever Edgar moves into his new house, which he nicknames “Big Pink,” his psychologist, Dr. Kamen, suggests for him to pick up a hobby; he starts drawing and painting. One painting after another he realizes that these paintings may be magical. Not only does Edgar paint the future, without knowing he’s doing it, but they can also “make things happen”, such as killing a murderer or removing a bullet in his friends head. When he starts selling his pictures, he realizes that whoever owns one will die.
In The Gunslinger, Roland lives in a world of many worlds. As he travels he comes across new worlds and people from other worlds. He has to fight off zombies and mutants, and he takes care of a young boy that he finds, among other things.
Edgar and Roland both meet life changing people on their journeys. Edgar meets Jake Cantori, who is a college student, and hires him to help with the move into the new house, to run errands for him, and to drive him to appointments. Edgar also meets Jerome Wireman. Wireman becomes his best friend. He also had a tragic accident that gave him a kind of supernatural power. He was able to get into peoples heads. This brought him and Edgar closer together. Wireman helped Edgar get through his hard times.
Roland had an affair with a woman named Allie in the town of Tull. Then Roland killed everybody in the town, including her, when the Man in Black turns the whole town against Roland. Next he meets a farmer name Brown, who brought him into his home and gave him food and shelter for the night. Then he meets Jake Chambers a boy who was sent to Roland’s world after he was killed in his own. Roland is beginning to love this boy when the Man in Black, also know as Walter the man Roland’s mother had an affair with shows up. The Man in Black gives Roland the ultimatum to either kill Jake or never get to the Dark Tower. Roland chooses the Dark Tower.
In both Duma Key and The Gunslinger the lead characters are male, they go on a life changing journey, and they meet people who change their lives. Although Duma Key and The Gunslinger have these similarities they are also extremely different.

Works Cited
King, Stephen. Duma Key. New York: Pocket Books, 1986. Print.