Patrick Danville

portal|The Dark Tower

Patrick Danville is a fictional character created by Stephen King, featured in the novel "Insomnia" and, later, in the Dark Tower Series.

Character history

Insomnia

Patrick was introduced as a child in "Insomnia", a budding artist who was destined to die saving the lives of two men, one of whom must not die. He would often draw pictures of The Gunslinger's world; namely he drew a rose, which is very important in the Dark Tower Saga. His life was threatened by the Crimson King twice in "Insomnia", first by the anti-abortion group Daily Bread, then by research chemist-turned-kamikaze pilot Ed Deepneau. However, both of these attempts were thwarted by the novel's protagonist, Ralph Roberts.

The Dark Tower

When he returns to the The Dark Tower series, he is adult and an extremely gifted artist. Roland and Susannah discover Patrick in the basement of Dandelo's house on Tower Road. He has been held captive for some time, his tongue ripped out. Dandelo had been feeding on Patrick's emotions for sustenance. Once he escapes from Dandelo, he goes to the tower with Roland, Oy and Susannah Dean. Soon they find out that his drawings are so masterfully crafted that they can come true at any time, but only if he draws them perfectly.

With Susannah, he erases a possibly cancerous pimple on her face that was brought about by radiation. Susannah has been having dreams about meeting her dead husband, Eddie and Jake again in another version of New York. She realizes that these dreams mean she needs to leave Roland's world so he can finish his journey alone. Patrick draws her a door that opens in the alternate version of New York, where she finds Eddie and Jake waiting for her. Patrick and Roland then travel on.

Not long afterward, Patrick is called for lookout, because Roland is sure that his son, Mordred, is nearby. Roland makes Patrick swear to stay awake, and look after him. However, the Crimson King begins to hypnotize him from the Dark Tower. Soon Patrick is asleep, and Mordred strikes at the two. He does not see Oy, however, and the Billybumbler strikes at him. But when he is captured by Mordred, he yelps and wakes Roland up. Oy is killed, and Roland puts three bullets in Mordred's head.

Roland is grief-stricken, and partially blames Patrick. Patrick redeems himself, however, because the next day they make it to the Dark Tower. Whenever they get close enough, the Crimson King begins to attack them with guided grenades ("Sneetches") which Roland quickly deflects with his revolver.

Using a single rose and the Gunslinger's blood, Patricks sits down and draws an amazingly accurate picture of the Crimson King. Working the red into the Crimson King's eyes makes them impossible to erase, but Patrick erases the rest of him, leaving the eyes imprisoned on the Dark Tower's balcony. With the Crimson King defeated, Roland gives Patrick all of his food, and enters the Dark Tower. Nobody knows where Patrick went.

The Unfulfilled Prophecy

In "Insomnia", it is clearly stated that Patrick would save two men shortly before his death, and that one of these men must not die in order to maintain cosmic balance. In the seventh "Dark Tower" novel, Roland visits our world where meets the "Calvins" (named after Calvin Tower, a bookkeeper who owned the vacant lot that had the Rose), a group of scholars who analyze the "Dark Tower" series and its related novels.

They tell Roland the plot of "Insomnia", and speculate that Gan's song that King transcribes when writing his novels was possibly muddled and that "Insomnia" may not be all that accurate. While Patrick is very important to Roland's quest, he does "not" die saving two people.