What did Detta/Odetta actually see?

[LittleRedKing]

The ending of Drawing always perplexed me; after Roland forces Mort to jump and goes back through the door just in time he yells for Detta/Odetta to look.

And for some reason she sees...the other. Or something.

I don't get it at all...what exactly is she seeing? I mean other than a subway train barreling right at her.

[GNTLGNT]

I always took it, as the two personalities recognized their suspected "other" half...

[LittleRedKing]

I always took it, as the two personalities recognized their suspected "other" half...

Right, I have come away with that as well; that recognition got rid of both of them and created a new persona.

What I still don't understand is, what exactly it was that she saw, because after several read throughs in that area all I can think of is her seeing Mort jump in front of a train.

How is that in and of itself related to her seeing both halves?

Does that make sense?

[GNTLGNT]

Makes mud clear sense to me LRK...I'm to much a linear thinker, never been skilled at thinking around corners(or thru doors or under trains for that matter)...I'll let some of the bigger brain pans on here handle that if they like

[fushingfeef]

I thought when she looks through the doorway she sees herself through Roland's eyes, because of the connection between them.

[randallFlaggfan1]

I thought when she looks through the doorway she sees herself through Roland's eyes, because of the connection between them.

Your interpretation actually makes a lot of sense, Fushingfeef!

[LittleRedKing]

I thought when she looks through the doorway she sees herself through Roland's eyes, because of the connection between them.

Ok. That raises two questions:

1) Did Roland see her as two people at once? We know he did on a cerebral level but did he also see her that way physically?

2) Regardless of how Roland saw her, why did he have to wait until the last minute to show her? It even mentions in the book how he was tempted to turn around but resisted. Why?

[The Paladin of Eld]

I thought when she looks through the doorway she sees herself through Roland's eyes, because of the connection between them.

That is exactly what the book said. That's what caused her to physically split in two, Odetta and Detta.

[bluesology]

Wasn't the point that Roland forces Mort to look back through the door and out onto the beach? So when Detta was looking through the door from her side, she wasn't looking at the oncoming train - she was looking at herself but through Mort's eyes - forcing her mind to recognize the duality in her mind and the two divergent personalities to merge.

I think anyway.

[Lancj61]

I finished the book last night, late. I will have a refresh of the last scenes before moving onward but I am baffled how Susan Dean appears.