The Shining

The Shining Summary | Plot Summary

The Shining is a supernatural thriller, centering on a five-year-old psychic, Danny Torrance, and his dysfunctional family. When the family moves into the Overlook hotel for the winter, the problems of Danny's family, problems including alcoholism, abuse, dependencies, and anger, allow the ghosts of the hotel to possess Danny's father, Jack. As Jack attempts to murder his wife and son to appease the hotel, it is the courage, friendship, and love of those around Danny that allow him to survive. While certainly a supernatural novel, The Shining is also a novel of personal suffering and the effects of dysfunction on the lives of others.

Jack Torrance, his wife Wendy, and their son Danny are moving to the Overlook hotel near Sidewinder, Colorado for the winter, where Jack will become the hotel's new winter caretaker. Jack, a recovering alcoholic, is working on a play, and plans to use the winter months with his family to repent for his past mistakes, which include verbal and physical abuse. Fired from a previous teaching position for his uncontrolled temper, Jack continuously fights the urge to drink, and tries to contain the violent temper he learned from his father. Wendy, a passive woman who is highly dependent on her husband, continuously blames Jack for their marital problems, and second-guesses his every move. Danny, their five-year-old psychic son, feels their constant anger and sadness, and often retreats to a Shadowland with his invisible friend, Tony, who shows him visions of the future. While Jack and Wendy originally believe the move will be the opportunity they are looking for, Danny begins to have visions of the Overlook hotel; visions that are surrounded by murder and terror. Chased by a monster that is all too familiar, Danny is certain that the Overlook Hotel will bring the family to destruction. Unsure of how to tell his parents, and afraid they will regress into their previous unhappy marriage, the psychic young boy remains silent.

After meeting Hallorann, a psychic cook who works at the hotel, Danny knows for certain that the hotel has a power of its own. However, it is when the hotel begins to take over Jack that the troubles truly begin for the family. As Jack learns more of the seedy history of the Overlook, which includes murder, suicide, organized crime, prostitution, and numerous other dark secrets, he becomes obsessed, allowing the hotel to drive him insane. At the same time, the hotel itself comes to life, manipulating hedge animals to attack Danny, and allowing long dead corpses to rise and attempt to strangle the young boy. As Jack continues his spiral into insanity, the hotel furnishes alcohol both to numb his emotions and to allow his actions to be dictated by the ghosts of the previous hotel owners. Wendy and Danny begin to fear for their lives as the man they once knew as a husband and father slowly becomes a part of the hotel, changing from a loving man to a bitter, cruel, and terrifying monster.

Convinced by the spirit of the hotel that he must kill his family, Jack begins to plan their murders, and eventually tries to kill them both. After strangling his wife and attempting to kill her with a roque mallet, Jack hunts down his son to kill him in order to allow the hotel to gain access to his psychic power. Hallorann, summoned by Danny's psychic power, arrives at the hotel to save them. Together, he, Danny, and Wendy escape. Jack, however, is now lost to the ghosts of the hotel, and perishes in an explosion that destroys the legacy of the dark Overlook.