Cynthia

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AudioArtist

Well-Known Member
Sep 25, 2015
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This is my first actual thread so please let me know if I should have put it elsewhere or anything else!
We all know that King is fond of recycling characters and adding in family relations to existing characters, Ace and Pop Merill for instance. But, one, Cynthia has always kind of intrigued me. The Cynthia in Rose Madder is obviously the same woman as in Desperation. The back story is the same and they are both tough female characters who've had some hard knocks but came back fighting. I've always felt that there's some significance to King bringing her back and I've always played with the idea that she could have had a more pertinent role in the Dark Tower series.
I'd enjoy to hear any of your thoughts!
-Gabriel
 

Walter Oobleck

keeps coming back...or going, and going, and going
Mar 6, 2013
11,749
34,805
That she does not have a pertinent role is evidence of misogyny.

Interesting idea...could be that the idea of floating Cynthia through the Dark Tower series was present though the fact never materialized. I imagine all manner of things flow through the pipeline and not everything swirls around in the eddy at the pipe's outlet.
 

AudioArtist

Well-Known Member
Sep 25, 2015
73
379
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I've always wondered where the influence for her character came from really.
Since my books are mostly boxed up right now I'll just have to wing it. She was described as sort of a punk rock girl. (at least in my mind) But definitely a strong character even though her overall contribution to the plot movement was not overly huge. Same deal with her role in Rose Madder. It just instantly grabbed me when she showed up in Desperation, "I know you!"
Just in my own random wandering thinking I sort of placed her as a possible female gunslinger type. She took to the self protection classes in Rose Madder quickly and with gusto for instance, and seemed to be ready for whatever in Desperation.
Overall, I've just wondered why a seemingly "not so important" character popped back up years later.
 

Neesy

#1 fan (Annie Wilkes cousin) 1st cousin Mom's side
May 24, 2012
61,289
239,271
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
I've always wondered where the influence for her character came from really.
Since my books are mostly boxed up right now I'll just have to wing it. She was described as sort of a punk rock girl. (at least in my mind) But definitely a strong character even though her overall contribution to the plot movement was not overly huge. Same deal with her role in Rose Madder. It just instantly grabbed me when she showed up in Desperation, "I know you!"
Just in my own random wandering thinking I sort of placed her as a possible female gunslinger type. She took to the self protection classes in Rose Madder quickly and with gusto for instance, and seemed to be ready for whatever in Desperation.
Overall, I've just wondered why a seemingly "not so important" character popped back up years later.
I have read Rose Madder and thought it was wonderful - I even liked the fantasy parts where she goes into another dimension, but I must admit I have yet to read Desperation.

Great to have you here! I like that idea - "Female gunslinger type".
 

AudioArtist

Well-Known Member
Sep 25, 2015
73
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Just like Odetta/Detta/Susanna. A strong, adaptable, and fierce female character. My Marvel books are boxed up right now as well and I can't remember the name of the character that was supposedly Roland's betrothed, or something like that, whom also proved to be a "warrior".

In any case Neesy, definitely take the time to read Desperation and The Regulators. They stand firm all by themselves, even individually, but they both find a nice little slot in the whole "levels of the tower" scheme of things.
 

Bardo

Well-Known Member
Nov 19, 2011
305
1,408
san diego
Hmmmm, Rose Madder is still on my "to do" list.
Did not make it thru the movie,,
Looks like I hav some catching up to do but I also enjoy various characters poping up in different stories,
\He has full reign on this due to the topic of alternate realities
 

Moderator

Ms. Mod
Administrator
Jul 10, 2006
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Maine
Hmmmm, Rose Madder is still on my "to do" list.
Did not make it thru the movie,,
Looks like I hav some catching up to do but I also enjoy various characters poping up in different stories,
\He has full reign on this due to the topic of alternate realities
The miniseries Rose Red was a different project, not based on the book Rose Madder.
 

GNTLGNT

The idiot is IN
Jun 15, 2007
87,651
358,754
62
Cambridge, Ohio
umm... is that sarcasm? because i can't tell; and if it's not, do you care to support that argument?
...with Walt, it's sometimes hard to tell-though I would agree that the many of the male characters in the two novels clearly had those tendencies, I don't believe he was referencing king in that quote...as far as the characters being the "same"?...not unheard of for King to recycle one of his "kids" if he liked them-or thought they would work, plus-that "type" has been seen in many of his novels....he knows the female gunslinger vibe for sure....
 

notebookgirl

Well-Known Member
Oct 8, 2013
858
4,940
Somewhere over the Rainbow
I just finished. I need to read "The Regulators" I did feel like it dragged on a bit, maybe because I was in a hurry to finish. I was hoping EVERYONE would come back from the pit after it was all said and done. Very interesting the God stuff. He is right. "God is cruel" and "God is love" (lately I feel mostly cruel, though or are we just the idiots!)