by Robin Furth
Over the series, we watch Jake mature—a process filled with painful lessons. From Roland, he learns betrayal, but he also learns to forgive those he loves, and to accept that—although people make mistakes—they can change. In Lud (found in The Waste Lands) he discovers that adults can be sexually predatory, and that often the objects of their sadistic fantasies are vulnerable young boys. In Wizard and Glass, Jake gains insight into what Roland was like as a boy and begins to understand the forces which shaped the man he so loves into the obsessive being that Roland has become.
In the final three books of the Dark Tower series, Jake—now an accomplished gunslinger in his own right—continues to experience life’s less savory lessons. While in Calla Bryn Sturgis, Jake witnesses another adult’s betrayal (this time BEN SLIGHTMAN THE ELDER’s betrayal of an entire community) and then learns to keep secrets, both from his tet and from his friend BENNY SLIGHTMAN. Although no stranger to death, Jake has the distressing misfortune of having to witness the deaths of two who are dear to him. First, he sees his friend Benny blown apart by one of the WOLVES’ sneetches, and then, in The Dark Tower, he watches as his ka-brother Eddie Dean is shot in the head by PIMLI PRENTISS, the Devar Master in THUNDERCLAP.
Perhaps it is this familiarity with death, as well as his own experience of it, which makes Jake so determined to sacrifice his own life to save STEPHEN KING rather than to witness the death of his dinh, Roland. On SLAB CITY HILL in LOVELL, MAINE, Jake—fresh from the horrors of the DEVAR-TOI—leaps out in front of an oncoming van, grabs King around the waist, and shields the writer with his own body. Hence it is Jake who is killed, not King, though our beloved kas-ka Gan suffers terrible injuries anyway. Blond-haired, blue-eyed Jake dies for a third time in the KEYSTONE EARTH occupied by his maker, Stephen King. Roland buries his adopted son in the Maine woods and makes IRENE TASSENBAUM promise to plant a rosebush over his grave.
Luckily for us, ka is sometimes kind. At the end of The Dark Tower, a trail-frayed Susannah Dean leaves Mid-World through the ARTIST’S DOOR (another manifestation of the UNFOUND DOOR, but this time drawn by PATRICK DANVILLE) and finds both Jake and Eddie alive and well in yet another version of NEW YORK. Although it’s not the Keystone Earth (here they drive Takuro Spirits and drink Nozz-A-La cola), Susannah is still delighted to find herself in this snowy twinner of CENTRAL PARK. In this where and when, Eddie and Jake are brothers from WHITE PLAINS and their last name is TOREN. It seems only a matter of time before Susannah Dean becomes Susannah Toren, and that our ka-tet, reunited as family, will find a strange-looking canine named OY to join them.
As CONSTANT READERS will recognize, Jake Chambers is another manifestation of the brave and talented prepubescent/adolescent hero who can be found in a number of King’s novels. In ’Salem’s Lot the boy is MARK PETRIE; in “Low Men in Yellow Coats” (the first story of Hearts in Atlantis) he’s called BOBBY GARFIELD; in Desperation his name is David Carver; and in It he is the young Bill Denbrough. The boy-hero also appears in the King/Straub collaborative novel The Talisman. Although these boys have different appearances, personalities, and talents, they all prove that the adult world isn’t always as wise as it thinks it is. It is the young boy (or the boy who still lives within the body of the man) who tries to remain true to his quest.
In Wind Through the Keyhole, Roland’s American ka-tet plays a small role. In fact, their tale is but a frame story for the two interlinked narratives which Roland recounts during their stay in the village of GOOK, where our friends are forced to wait out the killing winds of a STARKBLAST. However, within this frame story, Jake and his pet BILLY-BUMBLER, OY, play important roles. While they are gathering wood to keep the town meetinghouse warm during the icy winds of the starkblast, Oy becomes mesmerized by the energy of the coming storm and Jake must risk his own life to carry Oy to safety. This event—and the powerful relationship between bumblers and starkblasts—is what inspires Roland to recount both his autobiographical tale about the SKIN-MAN, and the fairy tale called “The Wind Through the Keyhole,” from which the novel takes its name.
I:74–95, I:112–13, I:117–26, I:129, I:132–44, I:149–58, I:174–92, I:198 (indirect), I:215, I:216, II:15 (as sailor), II:31, II:32 (Isaac), II:37, II:101, II:105, II:203, II:231, II:254, II:315–18 (and Jack Mort), II:319, III:29–30, III:35–36, III:41–48, III:50, III:51, III:59, III:78, III:86, III:89–146 (89–102 looking for magic door), III:149, III:151, III:152–58, III:162, III:165–70 (169 as Tom Denby), III:172–73, III:175–76, III:176–78, III:179, III:180, III:181 (coming into Mid-World), III:182–88, III:190–92, III:193–94 (born), III:194–96, III:197, III:198–201, III:202, III:203–4, III:205–13, III:219–67, III:268, III:269, III:273–81, III:283–303 (294 Oy almost falls off bridge; 300 Gasher), III:304–7, III:307–8 (Roland follows), III:312–14, III:314–16 (Roland follows), III:323 (indirect), III:325–28, III:328–31 (Roland follows), III:334–39, III:340, III:341, III:342, III:349, III:350–61, III:364, III:365–72, III:373–85 (Roland and Jake escape Grays. Run to Blaine’s cradle), III:389, III:393–420, IV:3–10 (Blaine), IV:13–42 (30 Edith Bunker, sex goddess; 31–35 Falls of the Hounds), IV:44–70 (61 leave Blaine; 64 sound of thinny; 64 and 67 saw player, Central Park), IV:71–112 (Topeka train station; 72–77 Topeka Capital Journal; 83 reflects on Forty-Sixth and Second; 86–87 roses; 87–89 Charlie the Choo-Choo in Topeka; 91 sign of Crimson King; 95 enters thinny; 97 Oz palace in distance; 106–12 Roland begins story), IV:335–37 (interlude in Kansas), IV:414, IV:570 and 572 (Roland’s vision), IV:615–25 (end of Roland’s story; back in Topeka), IV:626–68 (626 ruby Oxfords; 632 Green Palace; 634 gate like Wizard’s Rainbow; 646 Tick-Tock; 648 Flagg; 652 Roland’s matricide), V:8 (strangers from Out-World), V:29–31 (gunslingers), V:35, V:36, V:38–47, V:48–70 (visits New York via todash), V:77, V:78, V:80, V:81, V:84, V:87, V:88–119, V:121, V:123–37, V:138, V:142–60, V:162, V:163, V:165, V:167–69, V:176–85, V:187–98, V:201–34, V:235, V:238, V:239, V:241, V:246, V:249, V:257, V:258, V:266, V:291, V:294, V:302, V:313, V:318–24, V:325, V:328, V:329, V:330, V:332–34 (watches Margaret Eisenhart throw), V:340, V:341, V:371–76 (following Mia), V:378, V:380–87, V:388–406, V:408 (indirect), V:412 (ka-tet mate), V:417–19, V:420, V:421–23, V:428–30, V:437–38, V:442–45, V:448–49, V:452–54, V:457, V:460, V:461, V:462 (indirect), V:466–72, V:476, V:479, V:480, V:485, V:487, V:488–96, V:496–505, V:506, V:511, V:514, V:519, V:534, V:552, V:553–80, V:581–90, V:592 (indirect), V:601–17, V:621, V:636–39, V:641–44, V:652–53, V:656–57, V:659, V:660, V:661, V:662–73, V:675–76, V:678, V:679–705, VI:3–8, VI:10, VI:11–43, VI:64, VI:67, VI:68, VI:71, VI:79, VI:84, VI:85, VI:107, VI:121, VI:130, VI:143, VI:147, VI:199, VI:200, VI:205, VI:210, VI:216, VI:222, VI:224–25, VI:231, VI:247, VI:268, VI:284, VI:285, VI:288, VI:290, VI:298, VI:299, VI:302, VI:303 (kid), VI:307–44, VI:360, VI:389, VI:391, VI:399, VI:400, VI:402, VII:3–11, VII:13, VII:14, VII:15, VII:19, VII:23, VII:24–28, VII:34, VII:36, VII:52, VII:59, VII:61, VII:63, VII:72, VII:78, VII:80, VII:81–104 (100 changes places with Oy!), VII:104–5, VII:106 (snot-babby), VII:107 (brat), VII:108 (snot-babby), VII:109–12, VII:114, VII:126, VII:129, VII:134 (snot-babby), VII:136–38, VII:141–59, VII:164–65, VII:168, VII:169, VII:173, VII:177, VII:186 (ka-tet), VII:187, VII:188, VII:189–220, VII:247–61, VII:262 (indirect), VII:265–73, VII:276 (indirect), VII:279–324 (279–302 listening to Ted’s story), VII:325, VII:329–42, VII:350, VII:351–52, VII:362–63, VII:368–70, VII:378–85, VII:387–418, VII:421–33, VII:441–43, VII:444–45, VII:448, VII:449–67 (dies), VII:470, VII:472–75 (a rose to be planted on his grave), VII:476, VII:477, VII:478, VII:485, VII:487, VII:503, VII:509, VII:510, VII:520, VII:523, VII:525, VII:526, VII:527, VII:528, VII:532, VII:533, VII:534–35, VII:538, VII:541, VII:542–43, VII:544, VII:549, VII:554–56, VII:559, VII:585, VII:630, VII:633, VII:643, VII:645–46, VII:649, VII:657, VII:662, VII:670, VII:697, VII:724–25, VII:727, VII:728, VII:729, VII:731, VII:733, VII:740, VII:744, VII:746, VII:747, VII:748, VII:758, VII:762, VII:769, VII:785, VII:797, VII:802, VI
I:809, VII:812–13, VII:818, VII:819, W:3–31, W:303–7
CHARACTERS JAKE MEETS WHEN HE RUNS AWAY TO THE LOT, TO BROOKLYN, AND TO MID-WORLD:
DEEPNEAU, AARON: See TET CORPORATION: FOUNDING FATHERS
DUTCH HILL CHARACTERS (JAKE MEETS THESE FOLKS DURING HIS JOURNEY):
DELIVERY VAN DRIVER: III:204–5
LITTLE LEAGUE PLAYERS: III:204
WOMEN OUTSIDE OF DUTCH HILL USED APPLIANCES: III:204–5
ELI: Jake met this guy—who happened to have dreadlocks and a canary yellow suit—while he was sitting in TIMES SQUARE. III:168
GUARD AT MET: III:167
MAN WHO BUMPS INTO PROSTITUTE: III:169
MARK CROSS PEN BUSINESSMEN: Jake saw two of these guys playing tic-tac-toe on a wall. One of them was named BILLY. III:110–11, V:51–52
MESSENGER BOY ON BIKE: III:111
OLD MAN FROM BROOKLYN: This old guy told Jake that there was no such thing as a MARKEY ACADEMY. III:177–78
PRETTY BLACK TEACHER AT THE MET: This woman discovered Jake while he was on “French leave.” She told him to rejoin his class, not realizing just how far Jake was from it. III:166–67
TIMES SQUARE COP: While Jake was wasting time in TIMES SQUARE, this cop pegged him as a runaway. Jake mesmerized the bluecoat with his magic key and hid his true identity by giving the false name TOM DENBY. III:167–69
TIMES SQUARE PROSTITUTE: Jake wasn’t certain what this woman did for a living, but he was fairly certain that she wasn’t a librarian. III:169
TOWER, CALVIN: See TOWER, CALVIN, listed separately
UPS GUY: In The Waste Lands, Jake jumped over this man’s dolly as he sprinted toward the Vacant LOT. While traveling via TODASH in 1977 NEW YORK, Jake recalls this incident. III:120, V:61
YOUNG PUERTO RICAN LADY: III:120
CHARACTERS JAKE MEETS WHEN HE TRAVELS TODASH:
BALAZAR’S MEN: See BALAZAR, ENRICO: BALAZAR’S MEN, listed separately
DEEPNEAU, AARON: See TET CORPORATION: FOUNDING FATHERS, listed separately
NEW YORK WOMAN: When Jake and OY visit 1977 TODASH NEW YORK, this woman hitches up her straight black skirt so that she can step over Oy. Even though she can’t see our travelers, she can sense them. V:49, V:57
TOWER, CALVIN: See TOWER, CALVIN, listed separately
CHARACTERS WHO WITNESS JAKE’S DEATH:
BLACK MAN SELLING PRETZELS: I:83, III:103–7, III:112
BUSINESSMAN IN BLUE HAT WITH JAUNTY FEATHER: This man ran over Jake with his 1976 Sedan de Ville Cadillac. I:83, III:104–6
CHICANO GUY: III:104–6
FAT LADY WITH BLOOMINGDALE’S BAG: III:103–6, III:112
TALL MAN IN NAILHEAD WORSTED SUIT: III:103–6
TOOKER’S WHOLESALE TOYS (DRIVES BY): III:104
WHITE GIRL IN SWEATER AND SKIRT: III:104–6
WOMAN IN BLACK HAT NET: I:83
CHARLIE THE CHOO-CHOO CHARACTERS: See CHARLIE THE CHOO-CHOO, listed separately
CROWD THAT GATHERS UPON ENTRY TO 1999 NEW YORK: See HARRIGAN, REVEREND EARL, listed separately
JAKE’S FAMILY, FRIENDS, ASSOCIATES AND ALIASES:
CHAMBERS, ELMER: See CHAMBERS, ELMER, listed separately
CHAMBERS, JOHN: This is Jake’s real name. III:89
CHAMBERS, LAURIE: See CHAMBERS, LAURIE, listed separately
DENBY, TOM: In The Waste Lands, Jake Chambers uses this alias during his NEW YORK wanderings. III:169
DOORMAN, JAKE’S APARTMENT BUILDING: III:129
MUCCI, TIMMY: Timmy Mucci was one of Jake’s friends from MIDTOWN LANES. He liked comic books. Once, when Jake bowled a 282, Timmy gave him a bowling bag that said, “Nothing but Strikes at Mid-Town Lanes.” Jake picks up a version of this bag when he and our ka-tet travel via TODASH to the magic LOT in NEW YORK CITY. The only difference between the bags is that the one Jake finds in todash New York says, “Nothing but Strikes at Mid-World Lanes.” When Jake began to suffer from a split psyche in The Waste Lands, Timmy told him to go home and drink plenty of clear fluids, like gin and vodka. III:107, V:198, V:694
OY: See OY, listed separately
PIPER SCHOOL CHARACTERS: See PIPER SCHOOL CHARACTERS, listed separately
**SHAW, GRETA: Greta Shaw (who happened to look a lot like Edith Bunker) worked as a housekeeper for the Chambers family. Mrs. Shaw was one of the few professional people that Jake actually liked. In fact, she qualified as one of his “almost” friends. In many ways, she was more of a mother to Jake than Jake’s biological mother. Greta Shaw gave Jake the nickname ’Bama, and little Jakey thought she would save him from the DEATHFLY. I:81–82, III:91, III:102, III:106, III:107–8, III:129–30, III:133–37, IV:30 (and Edith Bunker), IV:64 (Central Park saw player), V:42, V:187, V:382 (housekeeper), V:419, V:460, V:637, VII:89, VII:94–97, VII:381, W:305 (housekeeper)
CHAMBERS, LAURIE (MEGAN)
Laurie Chambers is JAKE’s mother. In Wizard and Glass, she is called Megan. We are told that Laurie Chambers has a cultured Vassar voice and is “scrawny in a sexy way.” She also tends to go to bed with her sick friends. In Wolves of the Calla, we find out that she slipped between the sheets with her masseuse as well. Jake found this affair especially depressing since the masseuse had lots of muscles but few brains.
Laurie Chambers’s lullabies gave Jake the creeps. One of her favorites was “I heard a fly buzz, when I died,” the upshot of which was that Jake developed a terrible fear of a monstrous creature he named the DEATHFLY.
I:81, I:82, I:135, III:89–90, III:92, III:99, III:100, III:102, III:106, III:108, III:129–35, III:137–38, III:156, III:157–58, III:168, III:186, III:355, IV:80 (parents), IV:85 (parents), IV:655 (Megan), V:40 (Jake’s parents), V:42 (Jake’s mother), V:187, V:382, VI:324, VII:94, VII:95, VII:96, VII:98, VII:111, VII:138 (parents), W:305 (mother)
LAURIE CHAMBERS’S ASSOCIATES:
MASSEUSE (BIG MUSCLES): Big muscles, no brains. V:382
CHANEY, JAMES
See DEAN, SUSANNAH: ODETTA HOLMES AND THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT: VOTER REGISTRATION BOYS
CHAP, THE
See MORDRED
**CHARLES SON OF CHARLES
In the 2003 version of The Gunslinger, Charles son of Charles is the unlucky gunslinger who “drew the black stone” and so had to act as HAX’s hangman.
CHARLIE THE CHOO-CHOO
Our first glimpse of Charlie the Choo-Choo comes in The Waste Lands when JAKE bought Charlie the Choo-Choo—a children’s book about a talking 402 Big Boy Steam Locomotive—at the MANHATTAN RESTAURANT OF THE MIND. Charlie (whom Jake finds sinister despite his apparent friendliness) prefigures BLAINE the Insane Mono. Like Blaine, Charlie is part of the MID-WORLD RAILWAY and terminates in TOPEKA.
Throughout Charlie the Choo-Choo, Charlie sings this song:
Don’t ask me silly questions,
I won’t play silly games.
I’m just a simple choo-choo train
And I’ll always be the same.
I only want to race along
Beneath the bright blue sky,
And be a happy choo-choo train
Until the day I die.
Charlie’s nasty double, Blaine, actually likes silly games, if not EDDIE DEAN’s silly questions. Both versions of the Mid-World Railway seem to be connected to the ATCHISON, TOPEKA, AND SANTA FE RAILROAD that once crossed much of the American West on our level of the TOWER.
III:114, III:116, III:125, III:128, III:129, III:133, III:134, III:138–46, III:153, III:156, III:186, III:254, III:255, III:263, III:265–67, III:270, III:278, III:343, III:400, IV:71, IV:87–89 (in Reinisch Rose Garden, Topeka), V:54, V:55, V:57, V:91, V:104, V:118, V:152, V:167, V:600, V:709, VI:84, VI:154, VI:162, VI:168, VII:335
CHARLIE THE CHOO-CHOO’S ASSOCIATES:
BACHMAN, CLAUDIA Y INEZ: Claudia Inez Bachman was the widow of the author RICHARD BACHMAN. In the TODASH version of NEW YORK CITY, which JAKE CHAMBERS and EDDIE DEAN visit at the beginning of Wolves of the Calla, she was also the author of Charlie the Choo-Choo. On the levels of the DARK TOWER w
here Claudia Bachman is a published writer, her name contains a y, transforming her into one of the members of the tet of NINETEEN. V:57, V:59, V:92, V:93, V:94 (nineteen letters), V:600 (author), V:709 (author) VI:84, VI:154, VI:200, VI:214, VI:288
BRIGGS, MR.: Roadhouse manager. III:141–42
BURLINGTON ZEPHYR: He’s the 5,000-horsepower diesel engine who is supposed to be Charlie’s replacement. III:141–45, III:254–55
ENGINEER BOB: Engineer Bob was Charlie’s driver and friend. III:139–46, III:245, III:255, III:266, IV:87–88, IV:101 (and Eddie’s bulldozer dream), V:91
DECEASED WIFE: III:141, III:146
EVANS, BERYL: On at least one level of the DARK TOWER, Beryl Evans was the author of Charlie the Choo-Choo. However, on KEYSTONE EARTH she was one of the victims of the 1940s British serial killer John Reginald Halliday Christie. Cristie killed both Beryl and her baby daughter. It’s no wonder one of Beryl’s twinners wrote scary books. III:114, III:139–45, IV:71, IV:88, V:57, V:59, V:91, V:93, V:119, V:600 (indirect, as author), V:709 (indirect, as author), VI:84, VI:154, VI:200, VI:214–15, VI:288