Gan (Stephen King)
Gan is the creative overforce in the cosmology of Stephen King's fictional multiverse. Gan's role in the novels is very much in line with the concept of God.
Overview[edit]
The being is first mentioned by name in the Stephen King novel The Dark Tower VI: Song of Susannah, the sixth installment in The Dark Tower series. He is described as speaking "through the voices of the can-calah, who men call angels," and as "denying the Crimson King and denying Discordia itself."
In the cosmology of Stephen King's multiverse, Gan is that which the High Speech term "The White" refers to. Gan rose from the Prim (inferred to as the darkness behind everything) and created the universes and infinite alternate universes that the Dark Tower (a building that serves as a microcosm of all of the multiple realities of the Dark Tower series) holds in place.
Within the King's fictional cosmology, it is implied that Gan not only created the various universes where the author's novels take place, but also the real world, referred in the books as the "Keystone Earth", where the real Stephen King writes his books and real world readers read them. It is also implied in The Dark Tower series that Gan uses the real world's Stephen King as a facilitator (shown in The Dark Tower VI: Song of Susannah) to tell the tale of the Gunslinger, so Roland Deschain could successfully go about his task of reaching the Dark Tower; had the author died before completing his task, all universes would have ceased to exist (as there would be no story created). Roland would not have "known" how to further proceed on his quest to the Dark Tower and, without any significant remaining opposition, the Crimson King would have eventually destroyed the entire multiverse (including the Keystone Earth) by finally toppling the Dark Tower and unleashing Discordia.
It is unknown at the current time if Gan is the creator of such all-powerful artifacts (that exist on other worlds/story settings in the Stephen King cosmology) as the Talisman and the Dark Tower, or if these items are actually lesser or greater aspects of Gan itself. Nor is it known whether or not the various instances of "God" that occur in such Stephen King novels as Desperation, Insomnia, and The Stand are appearances of Gan or "merely" the "Gods" of those particular levels of the Tower, and created by Gan as well. In the seventh and last book, the CEO of the Tet Corporation gives paper with a message that changes into the beholder's 1st language. In the message, Roland sees the word Gan, while the CEO's daughter sees "God".
In the final book of the series, Roland suggests that Gan is in fact the tower itself, that the tower is a living creature and the physical embodiment of Gan.
Connections to other Stephen King Books[edit]
In Insomnia, the main character, Ralph Roberts, gains an "audience" with the Powers Above to make a deal so that he can sacrifice his own life to save the life of a loved one; the Voice heard above all others, that ultimately approves of the exchange, is implied (though not explicitly named) to be Gan, Itself (this Entity was implied in the novel to be responsible for creating everything in existence).
In It, it is implied by the titular antagonist that Gan hovers around the main characters, pulling the strings that eventually result in "It"'s death. "It" refers to Gan as the Other, or Another. Also, at the end of the book, Bill Denbrough briefly hears a voice that says "Son, you did real good." Bill also states that he knows the Turtle is dead, but whatever created it was not, which supports the theory that it is in fact Gan.
In The Wind Through the Keyhole, the Widow Smack blesses Tim by invoking Gan as he heads into the forest.
References[edit]
- Song of Susannah by Stephen King
- The Dark Tower by Stephen King
- Insomnia by Stephen King
- The Wind Through the Keyhole by Stephen King
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