In The Waste Lands, on two separate occasions, it is mentioned that Roland is not a full member of the ka-tet that Eddie, Susannah, and Jake comprise.
From Chapter 4:
And from Chapter 5:
In the first quote Roland muses that it might be because he's from a different world. But in the second quote, he guesses that Oy (from his own world) might be more of a full member of the ka-tet than he himself is.
Any thoughts on this? It just struck me as odd.
From Chapter 4:
“Each member of a ka-tet is like a piece in a puzzle. Taken by itself, each piece is a mystery, but when they are put together, they make a picture . . . or part of a picture. It may take a great many ka-tets to finish one picture. You mustn’t be surprised if you discover your lives have been touching in ways you haven’t seen until now. For one thing, each of you three is capable of knowing each other’s thoughts—”
“What?” Eddie cried.
“It’s true. You share your thoughts so naturally that you haven’t even been aware it’s happening, but it has been. It’s easier for me to see, no doubt, because I am not a full member of this ka-tet—possibly because I am not from your world—and so cannot take part completely in the thought-sharing ability. But I can send. Susannah . . . do you remember when we were in the circle?”
And from Chapter 5:
Roland understood that he was not a full member of this ka-tet; he guessed that even Oy was more fully aware than he of the secret life which existed at its heart (he very much doubted that the bumbler had tracked Jake with his nose alone through those tunnels where water ran in polluted streamlets). Nevertheless, he had been able to help Jake when the boy had been trying to cross from his world to this one. He had been able to see . . . and when Jake had been trying to regain the key he had dropped, he had been able to send a message.
In the first quote Roland muses that it might be because he's from a different world. But in the second quote, he guesses that Oy (from his own world) might be more of a full member of the ka-tet than he himself is.
Any thoughts on this? It just struck me as odd.