Eddie Dean was NOT a prisoner of heroin !

[Tiny]

Eddie was not a prisoner of heroin , he was a prisoner of his brother
Henry Dean. On Walters tarot card the prisoner had a monkey on his
back. That Monkey was Henry, not a chemical of some kind.

I suppose you could say he was a prisoner of "Both" but the emanate
sage and Junkie , Henry Dean was the greater of these two.,

I have never heard anyone talk about this before .

Tiny.

[Robert Gray]

I think this is an excellent insight. It bears noting that the constraints of the elder Dean brother lasted far longer than the pangs of heroine withdrawal as well. I'm not sure if this was intended by Sai King as subtext or if the younger Dean's physical addiction was simply a natural extension of the spiritual one.

[CCAL]

I just considered the monkeyon his back to refer to the addiction not to big brother hero worship.

[Tiny]

I think this is an excellent insight. It bears noting that the constraints of the elder Dean brother lasted far longer than the pangs of heroine withdrawal as well. I'm not sure if this was intended by Sai King as subtext or if the younger Dean's physical addiction was simply a natural extension of the spiritual one.

This is why WE (the people here at SKMB) need to speak directly
with Mr. King himself. Mr King needs to come here and discuss
all these thing, back and forth, with US. There are some questions
that only HE can answer ., He needs to be here every day , posting
under his own name, so that we can speak to him !!!

Show Spoiler

(LOL im totally kidding)

[GNTLGNT]

heroine withdrawal

...is that anything like breaking up with Supergirl?.....

[Robert Gray]

This is why WE (the people here at SKMB) need to speak directly
with Mr. King himself. Mr King needs to come here and discuss
all these thing, back and forth, with US. There are some questions
that only HE can answer ., He needs to be here every day , posting
under his own name, so that we can speak to him !!!

Show Spoiler

(LOL im totally kidding)

Well I'm sure he looks in from time to time, and he always has Ms. Mod to prod him if something particularly interesting comes up. For all we know he is here every day posting under a name we don't know. All things considered, I prefer the bulk of his time spent on writing that next book I want to read. Odd as it may sound, I don't assume that Sai King automatically knows the answers to all our questions. We get to give our little gray cells a work out this way rather than just have the answers provided. I suspect that when we as a group hear the right answer given we will all kind of know it. The correct answer tends to be self evident when you find it.

[weezergirl]

...is that anything like breaking up with Supergirl?.....

Bahahahaha!!

[scout66]

Tiny, that was an excellent point. I've never been much for analyzing that sort of thing, but, now that you've said it, I'm sure you're right. They were both monkeys on his back, but his brother probably most of all.

On your other point, about what is the "right" answer, here's my thought. (First, yes, it would be way cool to be able to chat with Sai King daily.) I don't think a good story is one, static thing, and I don't think there is one "right" answer. I like to think that the readers are, in a way, part of the story. Who and what we each are shapes our vision of a story. You, and now I, have one view of what the monkey on Eddie's back was. Others might see it differently. We're all entitled to our view. As I've read these threads, I've found that a lot of people see Roland totally differently than I do. Who's right? I suppose you could argue that, as the writer, Sai King gets to make the call. I would contend that, once he sets the story free into the universe, he loses a lot of control over that and we ALL get a say in what the "right" interpretation is.

[Todash]

Tiny, that was an excellent point. I've never been much for analyzing that sort of thing, but, now that you've said it, I'm sure you're right. They were both monkeys on his back, but his brother probably most of all.

On your other point, about what is the "right" answer, here's my thought. (First, yes, it would be way cool to be able to chat with Sai King daily.) I don't think a good story is one, static thing, and I don't think there is one "right" answer. I like to think that the readers are, in a way, part of the story. Who and what we each are shapes our vision of a story. You, and now I, have one view of what the monkey on Eddie's back was. Others might see it differently. We're all entitled to our view. As I've read these threads, I've found that a lot of people see Roland totally differently than I do. Who's right? I suppose you could argue that, as the writer, Sai King gets to make the call. I would contend that, once he sets the story free into the universe, he loses a lot of control over that and we ALL get a say in what the "right" interpretation is.

I think that's exactly right. A writer, or a painter, or a sculptor ... I don't think they can create art by themselves. They can do their part. And yes, they do a lot of the heavy lifting. But I think the art happens in the space between the sender and the receiver.

[travilanche]

This is a good point and I think it's partially true. However, chemical addiction to a drug like heroin overrides any love for another human being. Even a love so strong that Eddie had for Henry. It is even emphasized during his withdrawal period, and his panic when he realizes when he can't have heroin anymore. It is emphasized later when (even after his withdrawal period) he desires to have even just a little bit of heroin.