The Shining by Stephen King
**The Shining by Stephen King: Overview**
"The Shining," published in 1977, is a horror novel that tells the story of Jack Torrance, a struggling writer and recovering alcoholic who takes a job as the winter caretaker of the remote Overlook Hotel in Colorado. Accompanied by his wife, Wendy, and their young son, Danny, Jack's intention is to use the solitude of the hotel to work on his writing and mend his fractured family. However, the hotel harbors dark secrets and supernatural forces that exert a dangerous influence on Jack and prey on Danny, who possesses psychic abilities known as "the shining."
As the winter progresses, the isolation and haunting experiences at the Overlook begin to unravel Jack's mental state, rekindling his old demons of alcoholism and violence. Meanwhile, Danny's psychic powers expose him to terrifying visions and the malevolent spirits of the hotel. The tension escalates as Jack becomes increasingly influenced by the Overlook's ghosts, leading to a climactic confrontation that threatens the lives of his family.
The novel explores themes of domestic violence, addiction, and the impact of isolation, making it a complex narrative that delves into the psychology of its characters. Ultimately, "The Shining" serves as both a compelling horror story and a poignant examination of familial relationships under strain.
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The Shining by Stephen King
First published: 1977
Type of work: Novel
Type of novel: Horror
Time of plot: Early 1970’s
Locale: Rocky Mountains, Boulder, and Denver, Colorado; St. Petersberg, Florida
Principal characters
Jack Torrance , new winter caretaker at the Overlook HotelWendy Torrance , his wifeDanny , their five-year-old sonDick Hallorann , the Overlook’s head chefStuart Ullman , the hotel managerAl Shockley , Jack’s friend and a member of the Overlook’s board of directorsWatson , hotel maintenance person during open seasonGhost of Delbert Grady ,
The Story:
Jack Torrance is chosen to be the winter caretaker of the lavish Rocky Mountain Overlook Hotel by an old friend from his drinking days, the wealthy Al Shockley. Nevertheless, Jack must sit through a humiliating interview with Stuart Ullman, the hotel manager, who does not believe he is right for the position. Jack has few options left. He was forced to resign from his last job as an English teacher at Stovington Preparatory School in Vermont after he assaulted a student whom he caught slashing his tires. During his tour of the hotel, Jack meets Watson, a foul-mouthed maintenance person who warns him to release the pressure in the boiler every day because it steadily creeps up, creating a potentially disastrous situation.
Jack, his wife, Wendy, and their five-year-old son, Danny, meet the Overlook’s African American chef, Dick Hallorann, on closing day. Hallorann discovers that Danny possesses what Hallorann calls “the shining”: telepathic and precognitive powers. Danny exerts this power through an invisible friend named Tony. Hallorann, who also has these powers but to a much lesser degree, tells Danny that nothing he sees in the hotel can hurt him. However, he also says that if there is trouble Danny should shout out to Hallorann with his mind, and Hallorann will come from Florida to help.
Jack and Wendy have had a strained marriage ever since a drunken Jack accidentally broke Danny’s arm. They hope that spending the winter at the Overlook will bring them closer together and allow Jack to finish a play he has been writing. Danny has nebulous fears and horrific visions of the hotel, but he wants to stay for the sake of his parents’ happiness.
Soon, unexplained things begin to happen. A wasps’ nest supposedly destroyed by pesticide returns to life, and reanimated wasps sting Danny. Jack becomes increasingly fascinated with hotel memorabilia he uncovers in the basement. Though the hotel is devoid of liquor, Jack’s old drinking habits return—he wipes his mouth and chews Excedrin—as does his temper, which he has struggled to control all his life.
Danny steals the passkey and enters room 217, where he is terrified to find the nude, bloated, decaying corpse of a woman in the bathroom coming to life. She attacks Danny before he can escape. Later, Jack’s investigation of the room at first reveals nothing, but then he has the sense that something from the bathroom is coming for him. However, he tells Wendy and Danny that he found nothing in the room.
Jack smashes the hotel’s citizens band (CB) radio while sleepwalking. He knows that Danny needs to get away from the hotel, but he also feels that he himself must stay. Struggling between the needs of himself and his son, Jack sabotages the hotel snowmobile. Snowed in, the Torrances are effectively cut off from the outside world.
The Torrance family soon realizes that they are living in a haunted hotel. Jack believes the Overlook wants him, but it soon becomes evident that the hotel wants Danny for his psychic abilities and is using Jack’s weaknesses to achieve its aim. Jack and Danny each have separate, terrifying experiences in which the Overlook’s topiary—hedges trimmed to look like animals—appears to come to life and attack them. All three have experiences that cannot be discounted as hallucinations or imagination.
Danny has continuously had visions of the seemingly nonsensical word “redrum.” In one vision, the word is reflected in a mirror to read “murder.” Terrified, Danny sends a psychic shout for help to Dick Hallorann in Florida. Hallorann, knowing the danger the boy and his family must be in, immediately flies to Colorado.
Meanwhile, the Overlook’s ghosts materialize, providing Jack with what he wants most—liquor. The ghost of Delbert Grady tells Jack that he must kill his wife and son. An inebriated Jack tries to strangle Wendy, who knocks him unconscious and locks him in the food pantry. However, Grady’s ghost releases Jack from the pantry.
Possessed by the spirits of the hotel, Jack goes on a murderous rampage, viciously attacking Wendy on the stairs with a roque mallet and similarly assaulting Hallorann when he arrives. Both are severely injured but remain alive. Danny realizes that his imaginary friend Tony is actually himself, Daniel Anthony Torrance, ten years in the future. Jack then corners Danny, who saves his own life by reminding Jack that the pressure on the hotel’s boiler has not been released that day, leading to an impending explosion. As Jack rushes to the basement to attend to the boiler, Hallorann, Wendy, and Danny make their way out of the Overlook to Hallorann’s rented snowmobile.
Jack is too late, and the Overlook explodes, killing Jack. Wendy, Danny, and Hallorann escape via the snowmobile. Hallorann gets a new job in Maine, while Wendy accepts a job offer from Al Shockley in Maryland. The three agree to stay in touch, Hallorann once again promising that if Danny is ever in trouble, he will come if Danny calls.
Bibliography
Alegre, Sara Martin. “Nightmares of Childhood: The Child and the Monster in Four Novels by Stephen King (The Shining; Firestarter; It; Pet Sematary).” Atlantis 23, no. 1 (June, 2001): 105+. An interesting article considering how King addresses the father-child relationship in American culture.
Holland-Toll, Linda J. “Bakhtin’s Carnival Reversed: King’s The Shining as Dark Carnival.” Journal of Popular Culture 33, no. 2 (Fall, 1999): 131-146. Argues that The Shining is not affirmative of society’s values, as critics of horror fiction and King himself typically claim.
King, Stephen. Feast of Fear: Conversations with Stephen King. Edited by Tim Underwood and Chuck Miller. New York: Carroll & Graf, 1992. A collection of interviews with King, conducted by a variety of people.
Magistrale, Tony, ed. Discovering Stephen King’s “The Shining”: Essays on the Bestselling Novel by America’s Premier Horror Writer. I.O. Evans Studies in the Philosophy and Criticism of Literature 36. San Bernardino, Calif.: Borgo Press, 1998. Collection of literary and philosophical essays analyzing the meaning and importance of King’s novel, as well as its film adaptation.
Underwood, Tim, and Chuck Miller, eds. Fear Itself: The Horror Fiction of Stephen King. San Francisco: Underwood-Miller, 1982. A good collection of essays by various writers about King and his work.
Wiater, Stanley, Christopher Golden, and Hank Wagner. The Complete Stephen King Universe: A Guide to the Worlds of Stephen King. New York: St. Martin’s Griffin, 2006. Examination of the various worlds and realities portrayed by King in his novels. Places The Shining in King’s “prime reality” and explains the relationship of the novel to that world and to the other novels set within it.
Winter, Douglas E. Stephen King: The Art of Darkness. New York: NAL Books, 1984. A critical overview of King’s early work, including a good chapter analyzing The Shining.