Stephen King's the Dark Tower: The Complete Concordance Revised and Updated (11 page)

BOOM-FLURRY

Boom-flurry is a Calla term for the fantastically misshapen organ-pipe cacti that live in the desert dividing CALLA BRYN STURGIS from THUNDERCLAP. Their thick barrel arms are covered with long, nasty needles and they smell of gin and juniper. Unlike the cacti of our world, boom-flurry are sentient, vicious, and carnivorous. Hence, they make remarkably good sentries. JAKE and OY encounter some boom-flurry on their way to the CALLA DOGAN. Luckily, the salivating plant-monsters don’t manage to pierce them with any of their spikes,
but they are plenty fashed by the time ANDY the Messenger Robot and the treacherous BEN SLIGHTMAN come upon them.

V:561, V:562, V:567–68, V:571, V:577

BORDER DWELLERS

Border Dwellers were the people who lived beyond TULL, just on the edges of the MOHAINE DESERT. Their partially submerged huts had low sod roofs and were designed to retain nighttime coolness. Dwellers burned devil grass for fuel, though they refused to look into the flames, which they believed contained beckoning devils. Their main crop was corn, though they occasionally grew peas. All of these meager crops had to be watered from deep hand-dug wells.

Many dwellers were either madmen or lepers, suffering from a disease known as the rot. The mad preacher SYLVIA PITTSTON was originally a Border Dweller.

I:12, I:15, I:44, II:32, III:42

INDIVIDUAL BORDER DWELLERS:

**BROWN:
Roland met Brown the Border Dweller after his disastrous experience in the town of TULL and before his long and almost deadly journey into the MOHAINE DESERT. Although his long, strawberry-colored hair was ringleted and wild, Brown was neither a madman nor a rotter. He lived with his pet raven, ZOLTAN, and his thin, thirsty corn crop. In
The Dark Tower
he is mistakenly called a weed-eater.

In the 2003 version of
The Gunslinger,
we learn that Brown’s wife was MANNI and that he spent some time living with this sect. When Roland met him, Brown’s speech was still peppered with terms such as “thee” and “thou.” I:15–22, I:64–65, I:72, I:85, III:42, IV:570, IV:628, VI:283, VII:826
(mistakenly called a weed-eater)

PAPPA DOC:
Pappa Doc brought beans to Brown. His name is very close to that of the Haitian despot Papa (Poppa) Doc Duvalier. I:16, I:18, I:20

ZOLTAN:
Zoltan, the scrawny talking raven, was the rather sinister companion of Brown, the redheaded Border Dweller that Roland met in
The Gunslinger.
Zoltan’s favorite sayings were “Beans, beans, the musical fruit, the more you eat the more you toot” and “Screw you and the horse you rode in on.” He ate the eyes of Roland’s dead mule. Zoltan was also the name of a folksinger and guitarist that STEPHEN KING knew at the UNIVERSITY OF MAINE. I:16–22, I:64–65, I:72, I:85–86, III:42, IV:628, VI:283, VII:826

BOSCO BOB

See
DEAN, EDDIE
: EDDIE’S PAST ASSOCIATES: OFFICER BOSCONI

BRANDON

See
GRAYS
: GRAY HIGH COMMAND

BRANNI BOB

See
MANNI

BRANNIGAN, SKIPPER

See
DEAN, HENRY
: HENRY DEAN’S KA-TET

BRASS

See
WARRIORS OF THE SCARLET EYE
: CASSE ROI RUSSE: HUMANS: FEEMALO/FIMALO/FUMALO: FEEMALO

BRAUTIGAN, TED

See
BREAKERS

BRAVE BILL

See
MID-WORLD FOLKLORE

BRAWNY MAN

See
CALLAHAN, FATHER DONALD FRANK
: CALLAHAN’S HIDDEN HIGHWAYS ASSOCIATES

BREAKERS (BEAM BREAKERS)

The Breakers of THUNDERCLAP are both the prisoners and the servants of the CRIMSON KING. Imprisoned in the DEVAR-TOI, located in the poisoned land of END-WORLD, they use their psychic abilities to weaken the BEAMS, which hold the DARK TOWER in place. Although few (if any) of the Breakers willingly undertook the job of destroying the macroverse (most were tricked into accepting
an offer-of-a-lifetime
—an offer which really
did
turn out to be for a lifetime, since most of the MECHANICAL DOORS leading into Thunderclap are one-way only), almost none of them complain once they experience the diverse pleasures available beneath the Devar’s artificial sun.

“To break is divine,” or so we are told. The Devar’s 307 Breakers make use of their so-called wild talents in the STUDY, a room which looks like a richly endowed library in a nineteenth-century gentlemen’s club. They work in shifts of thirty-three individuals, each sitting in his or her accustomed place, seemingly reading magazines or contemplating pictures, while actually their minds are rising, reaching the Beams, searching out cracks and crevices, and expanding those fault lines as much as they possibly can. Although the damage done by this activity is almost incomprehensible, the act of Breaking is intensely pleasurable, both for the Breakers who are doing it and for the balcony guards who relax in the “good mind” vibe which rises from below.

Even if an individual doggedly ignores the moral (or perhaps I should say immoral) implications of Breaking, this act has another very human cost. To keep their skills at top form, the Breakers are regularly fed pills which contain a chemical culled from the brains of prepubescent twins, a chemical which causes “twin-telepathy” and which, once removed, leaves the culled child ROONT, or ruined. Although few Breakers know exactly what they are being fed, many have their suspicions but choose to ignore their consciences. Why worry when the accommodation is classy, the food is great, and the sim sex is almost as good as the real thing? As the Breaker saying goes, “Enjoy the cruise, turn on the fan, there’s nothing to lose, so work on your tan.”

According to TED BRAUTIGAN, most of the Breakers are able to turn off
guilt at will because they are
morks
(a term taken from the 1970s sitcom
Mork & Mindy
) and so don’t readily form deep attachments to other people. It’s not that morks are antisocial—in fact many of them are very sociable—it’s just that their “friendships” are based on convenience rather than emotional compatibility. For example, if you have a pack of cigarettes in your pocket, a mork who is jonesing for a smoke will suddenly be your greatest buddy. Although this emotional coldness is disturbing to contemplate, it serves a protective purpose. Most of the Breakers spent their KEYSTONE EARTH lives (and most of them are from Keystone Earth) as the butt of jokes. Their talents have forced them to be perennial outsiders, freaks, and they have always been treated (as DINKY EARNSHAW so aptly puts it) like “Carrie at the fuckin prom.” Hence, emotional distance from their fellow humans has been a matter of survival. It’s not surprising, then, that for most Breakers, existence in the Devar is preferable to life on ordinary Earth. (That is, once they get used to the eczema, acne, and multiple illnesses which come from inhabiting a poisoned land.)

In the final book of the Dark Tower series, Roland’s
ka-tet
arrives in Thunderclap and—with the help of a number of rebel Breakers—puts an end to the abominable practices of the Devar-Toi. Although they slaughter most of the Devar’s CAN-TOI, TAHEEN, and hume (or human) guards, they do not harm the Breakers themselves, but tell them to make their way to the CALLAS and beg the
folken
’s forgiveness. (Their only other option is to stay in the ruins of the Devar.) Needless to say, most of the mork Breakers are incensed at such a suggestion, claiming that they had no idea what they were
really
doing in the Study. Rather than taking responsibility for their past actions, they choose to blame Roland’s
ka-tet
as well as those Breakers who joined forces with the “enemy.”

We never find out what happens to the majority of Breakers, but those who aided our
ka-tet
in their time of need decide to go to CALLA BRYN STURGIS. Once there, they hope to pass through the UNFOUND DOOR and back to America-side. We can only hope that the Calla
folken
help them achieve their goal.

V:659–60, VI:16, VI:18, VI:110, VI:111, VI:114, VI:115, VI:245, VI:246, VI:255, VI:378, VII:58, VII:121, VII:148, VII:150, VII:152, VII:153, VII:178, VII:180, VII:187, VII:211, VII:212–13, VII:214
(indirect),
VII:230, VII:232, VII:234, VII:235, VII:236–37, VII:238, VII:239, VII:241–45
(study),
VII:251, VII:256, VII:262, VII:288–89
(rhyme),
VII:291, VII:292, VII:293, VII:294, VII:295, VII:296, VII:307, VII:311, VII:312, VII:326–27, VII:332, VII:338, VII:343, VII:344, VII:349, VII:356–85
(Devar-Toi battle),
VII:388–90, VII:391–93, VII:394–95
(accusing Roland),
VII:399, VII:406, VII:407, VII:408, VII:411–14, VII:416, VII:505, VII:507, VII:510, VII:532, VII:563, VII:577, VII:595

INDIVIDUAL BREAKERS:

ADDICTS:
Addiction of any kind is not tolerated in the DEVAR, since addiction can interfere with Breaking. Those Breakers who arrive at the Devar hooked on drugs or booze are quickly detoxed. However, those who can’t seem to give up their habits simply disappear. VII:211

BAJ:
Like SEJ, gentle little Baj is a hydrocephalic savant. In other words, he is a person who has hydrocephalus (enlargement of the head due to water collecting in the brain) but who is amazingly gifted. Baj has no arms, and
so has no way to protect himself from the dangers of falling. During the DEVAR’s final battle, eleven-year-old DANI ROSTOV tries to save both Baj and Sej from choking to death in the smoke of DAMLI HOUSE. However, while she is pulling them on wagons, Baj tumbles out and falls on his head. He doesn’t survive. VII:212
(indirect),
VII:375–76
(dies),
VII:377

BANKERLY LOOKING BREAKER NUMBER ONE:
See
WORTHINGTON, FRED
,
listed below

BANKERLY LOOKING BREAKER NUMBER TWO:
Despite holding our
ka-tet
personally responsible for destroying his life in the DEVAR-TOI, this morose, gray-haired gentleman has a certain amount of courage. Acting as a group spokesman, he confronts Roland with the ruination of the Breakers’ lives. Roland reminds him what terrible crimes he and the other Breakers have been committing and tells him that he and his friends should travel to the CALLAS and beg the
folken
’s forgiveness. VII:412

BRAUTIGAN, TED STEVENS:
To STEPHEN KING’s CONSTANT READERS, the
totally eventual
Ted Brautigan is a familiar, well-loved character. We first met Ted in “Low Men in Yellow Coats,” the opening story of
Hearts in Atlantis.
In that tale, Ted was a powerful psychic who could pass his talent on to others when he touched them. Because of this unusual ability, he was pursued by the CAN-TOI (referred to in the context of the story as the LOW MEN) who wanted to force him to use his skill for evil ends. Trying to remain unseen, a fugitive Ted moved into a CONNECTICUT boardinghouse already occupied by a young boy named BOBBY GARFIELD and his young but bitter widowed mother, LIZ. Thanks to their shared love of books, Ted and Bobby became friends. Bobby agreed to work for Ted, ostensibly to read the paper to him each day, but actually to act as a spotter for the garishly dressed low men and for the lost-pet posters and strange, occult designs which they used to hunt for their prey.

At the end of “Low Men in Yellow Coats,” Ted was betrayed by Bobby’s mother, Liz, who wanted to collect the low men’s reward money. The last distressing glimpse Bobby had of Ted was of him sitting in the backseat of a huge DeSoto, surrounded by low men. He was on his way back to END-WORLD and a job he despised. However, he agreed to Beam-Break, as long as the low men left Bobby and his other young friends alone.

When we meet up with Ted again in
The Dark Tower,
he is imprisoned once more in the DEVAR-TOI in End-World. We also learn that he has not kept his promise to his captors. Although he appears to Break willingly enough, he and two of his fellow inmates—DINKY EARNSHAW and STANLEY RUIZ (otherwise known as SHEEMIE)—are preparing for the arrival of Roland Deschain, the savior-gunslinger whose appearance he predicted at the end of “Low Men in Yellow Coats.”

In
The Dark Tower,
we find out that although Ted isn’t from KEYSTONE EARTH, he is much more than a run-of-the-mill Breaker. He is a
facilitator,
or a psychic whose special skill is his ability to increase the power of other psychics. This, we learn, is why the servants of the RED KING were so determined to bring Ted back to the Devar, and why he was not severely punished for his “little vacation” in Connecticut. While
the other Breakers work shifts in the STUDY, Ted comes and goes as he pleases. But whenever he arrives, the number of
darks
generated by the Breakers increases exponentially. Much to his chagrin, Ted’s special skill has taken years off the Red King’s work, and by the time our
tet
arrives in THUNDERCLAP, only two of the BEAMS are still intact.

Like his twinner, FATHER CALLAHAN, Ted Stevens Brautigan becomes a temporary member of Roland’s
ka-tet.
He, Dinky, and Sheemie help our
tet
destroy the Devar and begin the healing of the Beams. Not only does Ted use his psychic abilities to help confuse both guards and Breakers during our
tet
’s attack, but he also employs his deadly mind-spear to kill the
can-toi
guard TRAMPAS. When we finally take leave of Ted in the twisting corridors beneath the FEDIC DOGAN, he, Dinky, FRED WORTHINGTON, and DANI ROSTOV are on their way to the CALLAS. From there they hope to pass through the UNFOUND DOOR to one of the MULTIPLE AMERICAS. VI:407, VI:408, VII:197–220, VII:233, VII:234, VII:238, VII:243–45, VII:247, VII:249, VII:261, VII:265–302
(twin of Pere Callahan),
VII:304, VII:306, VII:307, VII:315, VII:318–24, VII:326, VII:327–36, VII:337–42, VII:349, VII:356–58, VI:359, VII:366, VII:370, VII:372, VII:374–75, VII:376–77, VII:380, VII:382, VII:384, VII:388–90, VII:391, VII:392, VII:393, VII:394, VII:400–401, VII:404–8, VII:409, VII:411–17, VII:532, VII:535, VII:536–37, VII:538, VII:539, VII:540–41, VII:560, VII:563, VII:802