The Shining

In what ways does The Shining manoeuvre between the supernatural tale and the psychological drama? How does this combination help to make the story so terrifying?

Stephen King has said that The Shining was one of the easiest novels he’d ever written, but that it was also one of the most emotionally charged. Part of this was because King funneled so many of his own early fears into the doomed central character, Jack Torrance. How does he make Jack empathetic despite his many shortcomings?

One of the most powerful themes within The Shining is that of familial bonding and familial pain. In particular, King focuses on the difficult relationships between parents and children, and of love that can continue despite alcoholism and abuse. How does this love, and this abuse, add to the poignancy and also the horror of The Shining?

Jack and Al share a terrible secret – they both fear that they killed a child one evening while driving home from a drunken escapade. What effect does that secret have on the reader? How does it propel the narrative?

According to traditional belief, babies born with cauls covering their faces are blessed (or cursed) with psychic powers. In other words, they are able to see beyond the veil that separates the world of the living from the world of the dead. Why do you think King decided to have Danny born with a caul?

One of the first signs of Jack’s dangerous freefall into madness is that he begins to obsessively wipe his mouth. In fact, it almost becomes a nervous tick. What is the unconscious significance of this action for Jack, both symbolically and historically?

King believes that it is important to take a child’s viewpoint seriously. Hence, children and adolescents are often the emotional focuses of his books. How does this work in The Shining? How does Danny’s viewpoint, so carefully explained, affect the way we interpret the story?

Why do you think Danny’s psychic ability takes the form of an imaginary playmate, and why do you think that the Overlook tries to block Danny’s access to his invisible friend Tony?

The term ‘The Shining’ makes us think of lamps and of lights in dark places. Why do you think this is so? What role does this image of light amid darkness play in the book?

Why do you think King wanted to echo John Lennon’s song ‘Instant Karma’ in the title of this book? What role has Lennon played in our cultural imagination?

In fairytales, images of mothers and fathers are often split into multiple characters, some good and some bad. What father figures (both actual and symbolic) do we find in The Shining?

When Jack first discovers the wasps’ nest in the Overlook’s roof, he interprets it both as a symbol of all that he’s been through and as a good omen for the future. (After all, he was only stung once.) What fatal mistake does Jack make when he interprets his find? What do you think is the real symbolic significance of the wasps’ nest?

Although Danny is attacked by the woman in room 217, and although Jack Torrance also has a run-in with the specter, when questioned by his wife Jack maintains that room 217 is empty and that Danny must have harmed himself. Why do you think he says this?

Stephen King has stated that ‘there is no horror without love and feeling . . ., because horror is the contrasting emotion to our understanding of all the things that are good and normal. Without a concept of normality, there is no horror.’ What do you think he means?