Having read an ungodly amount of Stephen King novels, it seems odd that I should only now be reading The Shining. I think what’s kept me away from it this long is that I’ve seen the movie countless times, and it’s a very good movie. For me, it’s always more difficult to watch the movie and then read the book than it is for me to read the book and then watch the movie.
However, it’s been a long time now since I’ve seen the movie, so I decided to give The Shining a go. I listened to it on Audible, which was a very different experience than reading it myself. There were a few times where the voice actor shouted or spoke a line louder than I was expected, which spooked me through my headphones. I would recommend this version, but be prepared for a dedicated performance!
The novel starts with Jack, Wendy, and Danny Torrence being introduced to the Overlook Hotel. After losing his job as an adjunct professor, Jack has accepted a position as the Overlook’s housekeeper for the winter. This means he will stay at the hotel during the winter months to ensure the hotel is in good shape when it reopens in the spring. It is a lonesome position, but he’s brought his wife, Wendy, and his son, Danny, with him to keep him company.
From the very beginning of the book, it’s clear that this novel is really an introspection into each of these characters, the relationships between them, and how their pasts have affected their present. For those who have seen the movie, I think this is the biggest difference between them. King focuses much more on the characterization and psychology rather than the horror.
To elaborate, we see a lot of Jack’s past right from the beginning of the novel. As he’s being shown around the Overlook hotel, he’s having flashbacks of the incident that caused him to lose his prior job. Jack has dealt with alcoholism for years at this point, and although he’s been sober for over a year, he still struggles with his anger issues. One day, he snapped at a student and entered a physical altercation, which is what caused him to lose his job as a professor.
We also learn through Jack’s musings that this isn’t the first time he’s snapped. During the throes of his alcoholism, he became enraged at Danny and broke his arm. This sets the scene for Jack’s downfall. From the very beginning, we know he is the character with the most struggles, and he has an inclination to excuse his own behavior until it’s too late.
King draws parallels between Jack and his father throughout the novel as well. There’s a lot of discussion about Jack’s dad and Wendy’s mom, and how their parents failings have shaped who they are today. Jack’s dad was abusive towards his mother and towards Jack and his brothers. Jack’s temper comes from his father, and the theme of generational abuse is present with both Jack’s parents and Wendy’s parents.
Wendy’s thoughts mostly surround Jack and his condition. In the beginning of the novel, she’s hopeful that this job will help enforce Jack’s recovery. The grounds are beautiful, the weather is nice for the moment, and Jack seems to enjoy the manual labor that keeping up a hotel takes. He’s even begun writing again.
There are doubts and worry sprinkled in, though. Wendy remembers the incident with Jack and Danny, and how close she was to asking for a divorce. She worries about Jack’s temper, especially considering they’ll be far away from any help.
Through her musings, we find out that her relationship with her mom is defunct. Jack is actually the one who has helped her stand up to her mother, which shows that Wendy may be more inclined to be taken advantage of. Her mother is very emotionally abusive, and Wendy seems to have a high tolerance for this sort of abuse from Jack as well. She is not weak-willed, but rather she has a penchant for forgiveness even when it may not have been earned.
Danny is the most interesting character here since he has the “shining”. This is what another character, Dick, calls Danny’s supernatural ability. Danny can glean information from people’s minds, and he tends to have premonitions. He can also see ghosts and ghouls that haunt the hotel.
Dick, the hotel’s chef who is leaving for the winter, recognizes that Danny is a very powerful boy, and he worries about Danny staying at the hotel. However, he doesn’t fully realize the danger, and he leaves Danny and his parents to their fate.
Danny knows something is wrong with the hotel, but his ultimate goal is to keep his parents together. Having witnessed only the tail end of his dad’s alcoholism, he believes his dad can be redeemed. The broken-arm incident happened when Danny was three, and at five years old he’s optimistic about his dad’s recovery.
He remembers Jack and Wendy thinking about divorce, and he even remembers Jack thinking about suicide, so his primary goal is to do what’s best for his parent’s relationship. While he has an ominous feeling about the Overlook hotel, his dad seems happy about his prospects, and Danny feels he must do whatever it takes to keep his parents together.
It is the culmination of the three main character’s traits that allow for the events of The Shining to happen, which is why they’re described in such detail. A large portion of the story focuses on their pasts, thoughts, and emotions. If you whittled the book down, it’s probably only 1/3 plot, with the other 2/3 being spent building up and examining the characters.
For some readers they may make the book a bit slow or dull. For me, I really enjoy this type of characterization, and it is extremely purposeful to this story. We need to know about Jack, Wendy, and Danny’s pasts so we understand the decisions they make while they’re at the hotel and so we understand how the hotel is able to manipulate and exploit their situation.
There’s a very strong message that the entire story of The Shining only happens because these specific people with their specific pasts were drawn together. The “shining” is a sort of enigmatic force that shapes the world. Some people, like Danny Torrence and Dick, can tap into this shining. Others are oblivious to it and its affects.
The hotel itself is a supernatural force as well. While not fully explained, it is alluded to as some sort of supernatural apex, where power has been building and building over time. Many terrible things have happened in the hotel, and the hotel itself has been waiting for the perfect combination of people and timing to fully exert its plan.
Jack, Wendy, and Danny are this perfect combination. Jack is easily manipulated by the hotel because of his martyr-ish disposition that we’ve seen throughout the story. Jack begins to think the hotel isn’t the problem, Danny and Wendy are. They want him to leave because they don’t want him to succeed, so the hotel is able to manipulate him into thinking they’re the enemy.
Wendy, having the traits of ample trust and forgiveness, takes too long to realize that something is seriously wrong with Jack. Because of her initial inaction, Jack is lost to the hotel, and she then is stuck trying to survive Jack AND the hotel rather than getting ahead of the issue.
Because Danny wants his parent’s marriage to succeed, he is extremely reluctant to talk to them about what he sees at the hotel. By the time he does begin to let them in, it’s far too late for Jack. There is also the issue of Danny’s parents thinking he has an overactive imagination rather than true insight, which further delays their understanding of the situation.
Without this specific combination of people and history, the events that take place at the end of The Shining could never have happened. The hotel wouldn’t have been able to manipulate someone else as well as it could Jack, and it wouldn’t have benefited from another shiner who wasn’t as strong as Danny. While Wendy will do whatever she can to protect her son, she is extremely reluctant to let go of Jack, and it is this fault that allows things to go too far in the first place.
I think this novel is a masterclass in very specific and thoughtful characterization. While there are plenty of horror elements to be found, the focus is much more on themes of marriage, parenting, difficult relationships, etc. It’s a really interesting breakdown of how such an amalgamation of issues can affect people long term.
Jack and Wendy’s childhoods affected them so severely that they still hold onto those issues, and Danny ends up suffering for that as well. It’s a pretty good example of how abuse can be cyclical in nature and can affect us in ways we don’t anticipate. If anyone in this book had gone to therapy, things probably would have turned out differently. Of course, this was published in 1977, so that wasn’t an option.
Looking at the publication date, it does seem like King was slightly ahead of his time. The cycle of abuse theory was published by psychologist Lenore Walker in 1979, and the concept of generational abuse didn’t come to fruition until much later. By thoroughly examining the relationships between Jack and his dad, Wendy and her mom, Jack and Wendy, and Jack, Wendy and Danny, King has given a solid example of generational abuse long before it was something recognized and talked about in the mainstream.
For that reason, I think this is a very effective novel. Though it’s horror fiction, I think there’s a lot to be learned from the characters and the way they handle themselves. Those who experienced struggles similar to Jack and Wendy may see themselves in this book and may even learn something new about themselves. More generally, fans of psychological horror will find the characterization and payoff well worth it.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book. I’ve long been a fan of Stephen King, and I’m glad I finally got around to reading one of his most famed novels.
The Lit Wiz