Personally, I think Roland's journey acts as a great metaphor in two different ways. First of all as a representation of the wheel of Ka, in that ultimately we are neither punished or rewarded for whatever we may have done or failed to do - the path that lays ahead of us already exists and all we can do is walk until we are lucky enough to find that clearing at the end of the path.

Second, I see Roland as a metaphor for us, the readers in that so many of us go back again and again, re-reading and going through Roland's difficult journey, knowing full well the heartbreak that waits for him at the end.