The Shining
Stephen King/Stanley Kubrick
Prof. Myrna Monllor
English 124
copyright©2009
"a man who thinks too much and
feels too little”
S.King (referring to Kubrick)
• Stephen King was not
pleased with Kubrick’s
filmic version of The
Shining
• He hated
– The actors chosen for the
main roles
– Changes made in the
characters and plotline
“What, exactly is impelling Jack Torrance
toward murder in the winter-isolated rooms
and hallways of the Overlook hotel? Is it
undead people, or undead memories? Mr.
Kubrick and I came to different conclusions (I
always thought there were malevolent ghosts
in the Overlook, driving Jack to the
precipice), but perhaps those different
conclusions are, in fact, the same. For aren’t
memories the true ghosts of our lives? Do
they not drive all of us to words and acts we
regret from time to time?” Stephen King 2001
Stephen King
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Carrie
Apt Pupil
Children of the Corn
The Dead Zone
Dolores Clairbone
The Shining
The Green Mile
Rita Hayworth and The
Shawshank
Redemption
• Secret Window
What Kubrick liked about
King’s Writing
Full of references to American history
and American culture, particularly the
darker, more fearful side
King used these references to
develop characters who often
confront or explain their fears
Recurrent references included crime,
war, violence, the supernatural and
racism.
Stanley Kubrick
"If it can be written, or thought, it can
be filmed."
•
•
•
•
•
Paths of Glory 1957
Spartacus 1960
Lolita 1962
Dr. Strangelove 1964
2001 Space Odyssey
1968
• A Clockwork Orange
1971
• Full Metal Jacket 1987
• Eyes Wide Shut 1999
The Novel
Prefatory Matters: The Job Interview
“Jack Torrance thought: Officious little prick.”
The Job Interview
• What do we learn in
this chapter?
• What characters are
introduced ?
• What do we learn
about Jack’s
background?
• What do we learn of
the hotel’s
background?
The Family
Jack, Wendy, Danny
What do we learn
about Danny and his
visits to the doctor?
What do we learn
about Wendy’s family?
What do we learn
about Jack’s family?
"Who's got the newspaper? Your daddy
wants the funnies. Is it raining yet?"
Jack
“No Wendy, I meant to do it. I guess someplace inside I really did
mean to do that to him.”
http://subterraneanpress.com
What had caused the family’s current problems?
What problems does Jack have with authority?
What was Jack’s history of violence?
How does Jack view his violence towards his family?
Jack
• “He had not done things; things had been done to him.”
• “And his temper, same thing. All his life he had been trying
unsuccessfully to control it. He could remember himself at
seven, spanked by a neighbor lady for playing with matches.
He had gone out and hurled a rock at a passing car. His
father had seen that, and he had descended on little Jacky,
roaring. He had reddened Jack's behind ... and then blacked
his eye. And when his father had gone into the house,
muttering, to see what was on television, Jack had come
upon a stray dog and had kicked it into the gutter. There had
been two dozen fights in grammar school, even more of
them in high school, warranting two suspensions and
uncounted detentions in spite of his good grades.
Wendy
http://weheartit.com/entry/57884467
How is Wendy described in the novel?
How is her relationship to Jack, Danny, and Tony?
How is she different from the Wendy in the film?
Danny/Tony
"He was born with a caul."
http://subterraneanpress.com
What are some of the main differences between
Danny in the novel and the Danny in the film?
Reference to Fairy Tales
“The name of the story was Bluebeard. That was clear in his
mind too, because he had thought at first Daddy was saying
Bluebird, and there were no bluebirds in the story, or birds of
any kind for that matter. Actually the story was about
Bluebeard's wife, a pretty lady that had corn-colored hair like
Mommy. After Bluebeard married her, they lived in a big and
ominous castle that was not unlike the Overlook. And every day
Bluebeard went off to work and every day he would tell his
pretty little wife not to look in a certain room, the severed heads
of Bluebeard's seven previous wives were in the room, each one
on its own pedestal, the eyes turned up to whites, the mouths
unhinged and gaping in silent screams. They were somehow
balanced on necks ragged from the broadsword's decapitating
swing, and there was blood running down the pedestals.
Reference to Fairy Tales
Terrified, she had turned to flee from the
room and the castle, only to discover
Bluebeard standing in the doorway, his
terrible eyes blazing. "I told you not to enter
this room," Bluebeard said, unsheathing his
sword. "Alas, in your curiosity you are like the
other seven, and though I loved you best of
all your ending shall be as was theirs.
Prepare to die, wretched woman!"
Halloran
What purpose does Halloran serve?
According to Halloran, what should Danny do when he shines?
What “shinings” did Halloran have in common with Danny?
The Hotel
What is the viewer’s first impression of the hotel?
What is the hotel’s history? What had happened in some of
the rooms? Who had been some of the previous owners?
What happens to the hotel at the end of the novel?
New Characters
•
•
•
•
Al Shockley
George Hatfield
Wendy’s mom
Jack’s father and
family
• Dr. Edmonds
• Horace Derwent
• Mrs. Massey
Symbols
•
•
•
•
The boiler
The White Scrapbook
Redrum
The Wasps
“Living by your wits is always knowing
where the wasps are.”
• The clock
• The topiary
The ending
“The world's a hard place, Danny. It don't
care. It don't hate you and me, but it don't
love us, either. Terrible things happen in the
world, and they're things no one can explain.
Good people die in bad, painful ways and
leave the folks that love them all alone. But
see that you get on. That's your job in this
hard world, to keep your love alive and see
that you get on, no matter what. Pull your act
together and just go on."
Suspense
How does Stephen King build suspense?
What elements of horror does he use?
How is the Overlook hotel different or
similar to the one in the film?
The Film
• Used the newly
invented Steadicam
• One aspect of Stephen
King's novel which
impressed Kubrick was
the way the reader was
misdirected
Music/Sound
• Use of mostly classical music by Bela Bartork, and
avant-garde music by Krzysztof Penderecki and
Györgi Ligeti
• Uncredited 20s music "Midnight, the Stars, and You"
performed by Ray Noble's band with vocal by Al
Bowly. "Home" Performed by Henry Hall and the
Gleneagles Hotel Band.
• Dissonant, memorable, and distinct sounds (tricycle
scene)
• Sharp sounds, heartbeats, typewriter,echo
• http://hopelies.com/2011/06/13/the-sound-of-theshining/
The Setting: The Landscape
3 1/2 hours away
The Overlook Hotel
How is the name of the hotel symbolic?
The Overlook Hotel
Observe the symmetry of the spaces within the hotel.
The snowstorm
Characters:Jack
“All work and no play make Jack a dull boy.”
What do we know about him?
• Had hurt Danny
• Had been a school
teacher
• Was a writer
• Was an alcoholic
• Had stopped drinking
for 3 years
• Acknowledges that he
hurt Danny, but doesn’t
accept his responsibility
“All work and no play makes
Jack a dull boy”
“Lots of ideas, no good ones”
“I’ve never been so happy or
comfortable anywhere”
“I’d give my soul for a glass of
beer.”
“I love the little son of a ….”
Room 237
“Wendy, honey, I think you
hurt my head so bad.”
Characters: Wendy
“Wendy is a confirmed ghost story and horror film
addict.”
Wendy Darling in Peter Pan
Wendy
“It was just one of those
things, you know. Purely an
accident. My husband had
been drinking and he came
home about three hours late.
So he wasn’t exactly in the
greatest mood that night.
And Danny had scattered
some of his school papers
all over the room and my
husband grabbed his arm to
pull him away from them. It’s
just the sort of thing you do
100 times with a child.”
Danger High Voltage
“I never laid a hand on them. That bitch-as long as I live
she’ll never let me forget what happened. It was an
accident, it was three goddamn years ago”
Blending into the background
Indian motifs
•
•
•
•
•
Submissive
Emotional wreck
Hysterical
Overprotective
Does most of the
caretaking work
Map of USA
Indian clothes
Indian motif
Characters: Danny/Tony
“Redrum,Redrum”
“Danny’s not here, Mrs.
Torrance”
“When something happens, it
can leave a trace.”
Danny
• Has an imaginary
friend, Tony
• Has the gift of shining
• Seems to have
psychological problems
• Even in the city, doesn’t
seem to have friends
• Seems to live in his own
world, isolated from
others
• Seems more attached
to his mother
Characters: Mr. Halloran
“Some places are like people. Some shine some don’t”
• Has the gift of
shining
• Knows that the hotel
has ghosts
• Tries to save the
boy
Characters: Lloyd
“No charge. Your money is no good here. Orders from
the house.”
• Seems to be Jack’s
imaginary friend.
• When Jack first sees
him it’s because he has
crossed to the other
side, the ghost world
Characters: Grady
• “ I corrected them.”
• “Your son is
attempting to bring a
third party to this
situation, a
nigger…”
• “Your wife seems to
be stronger than you
imagined. She
seems to be more
resourceful.”
Narration
• Who is the reliable observer?
• Whose ideas of events can we trust?
Themes:Domestic Violence
“You mean, they ate each other up?”
Quotes
• “Once you rule out his version of what
happened, I think he did it to himself. There’s
no explanation.”
• “I think we should discuss Danny. I think we
should discuss what should be done about
him.”
• “Here’s to 6 months on the wagon and all the
irreparable harm that it caused me”
Themes: Isolation/Lack of
communication
• The hotel is 31/2 hours away from the
city
• As the danger becomes more imminent,
the colder it gets in the hotel
• The characters seem distant from each
other
• Madness is in itself isolating
Themes: Television/Media
• Television/media is almost always present
• The child knows the story about the Donner
party through the television
• The child is called Doc, as in What’s up, doc?
• The child and his mother watching the
Roadrunner cartoon foreshadows what the
child will experience next
• Over the radio we hear about a wife and
husband who disappeared
• “Here’s Johnny!”
Duality
Change in Perspective
Diane Arbus’ twins
Shift in Perspective
Duality
In the red bathroom, there’s an
obvious shift in perspective,
as the camera shoots from
the door into the bathroom,
and vice-versa.
Discovering/Uncovering
Discovering/Uncovering
Genocide of Native Americans
Genocide of Minorities
• Hotel was built in an ancient Indian burial
ground
• The hotel is decorated with Indian imagery
• Jack throws a ball towards a wall with Indian
artifacts
• Grady and the Gold room
• White man as destroyer-death of Halloran
Red, white, and blue
The foundation of America
Symbols
• The Overlook
• All the Native
American
decorations
• The Gold Room
• Fairy Tales
– Hansel and Gretel
– The Three Little Pigs
– Peter Pan
The Maze
In Greek mythology,
the maze was
designed in such a
way as to capture
whoever ventured
there and in this way
be destroyed by the
Minotaur
Mirrors
All the imagery is reflective of
a maze
Repetition
Observe how the architecture
and embellishments of the
rooms repeat
The blood pouring out of the
elevator is repeated subliminally
through the red walls.
Interesting Images and
Quotes
• “This place is such
an enormous maze I
feel I would have to
leave a trail of
crumbs to find my
way”
• “How do you know
we call him Doc?”
• “It’s good to be back.”
• “It’s his mother, she
interferes”
White man’s burden/
I’d give my soul for a beer.
• I know all about
cannibalism, I saw it on
TV.”
• “ I want you to like it
here. I want us to stay
here forever and ever”
“Darling, Light of my life”
The girls would also
like to play with Danny
forever and ever and
ever.
Bibliography
• Dad, do you feel bad?: The Secret History Lesson of
The Shining
http://explodingkinetoscope.blogspot.com/2006/03/daddo-you-feel-bad-secret-history_31.html
• http://www.filmsite.org/shin.html
• Bill Blackmore: The Family of Man
http://www.drummerman.net/shining/essays.html
• The Duality Motif
http://www.drummerman.net/shining/duality.html
• http://www.visualmemory.co.uk/faq/html/shining/shining.h
tml
• Excerpts from Pauline Kael’s review
http://www.visualmemory.co.uk/amk/doc/0050.html
• How Stanley Kubrick’s Editing Conveys
a Horrifying Supernatural Vision in The
Shining
http://adampolselli.com/2008/01/06/stanle
y-kubricks-editing-in-the-shining/