Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Shining, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Fear, the Paranormal, and Reality
Precognition, Second Sight, and the Shining
Family
Isolation and Insanity
Alcoholism and Abuse
Time
Summary
Analysis
In bed next to a sleeping Jack, Wendy thinks back to all the beds they have shared. They’d gotten together in college—Jack studied English, Wendy studied sociology—not long after Wendy’s mother kicked her out and told her not to come back. She said that if Wendy needed any help, she should just go to her father, since it was Wendy’s fault they got divorced anyway. That was in 1970, and she remembers that first bed most clearly. With Jack’s help, Wendy finally gave up on her mother. “She wants to keep beating you,” Jack said.
Jack’s comment that Wendy’s mother wants to beat her is ironic, considering that Jack himself is the one who turns out to be abusive. Though Wendy’s mother is cruel, she doesn’t beat or otherwise physically abuse her—Jack only describes her mistreatment in physical terms because of his own violent nature. The reader can infer that Wendy’s relationship with her mother is a considerable source of stress in her life, given that her mother casts Wendy out and unfairly blames her for the divorce.
Themes
Early in Wendy and Jack’s relationship, Jack insisted they separate for a while. Wendy thought he was seeing someone else, but he wasn’t, and the breakup didn’t last long. When Jack came back, he knew that Wendy had been to see her father. She asked Jack how he could possibly know that, and Jack replied: “The Shadow knows.” They were married not long after. Wendy’s father came to the wedding; her mother did not. After Danny was born, Wendy reconciled with her mother—for Danny’s sake—but their relationship has always been strained, and Wendy’s mother is forever judging her and thinks that she is a poor mother to Danny.
Jack’s mysterious ability to sense that Wendy was at her father’s and his mysterious claim that “The Shadow knows” suggests he may have psychic abilities similar to Danny’s—or, at the very least, that Jack is a highly intuitive person. Jack has no logical way of knowing that Wendy saw her father, yet he does know. Despite Wendy’s problems with her mother, she still fosters a relationship with her, much like Jack and Danny still maintain their bond despite Jack’s abuse. This further suggests that the connection within families can’t be easily broken.
Themes
That first year of marriage after Danny was born had been the best of Wendy and Jack’s relationship. Jack drank, but not yet in excess, and he easily landed the job that Stovington after graduate school. He was hired mostly due to his successful short stories, one of which he sold to Esquire for $900. The night that Jack sold the Esquire story, he went out with friends and got terribly drunk. When he came home late that night, he was stumbling and woke Danny. Jack went to his crib to soothe him and dropped the baby on the floor. It was all downhill from there.
In addition to Jack’s teaching career and family life suffering due to his drinking, it seems that his passion for writing has been affected as well. It has been years since the Esquire magazine story, seemingly the pinnacle of his success, and Jack seems only to have faltered and failed since then.
Themes
By the time Jack broke Danny’s arm, Wendy had been seriously thinking about divorce for over six months, but she couldn’t bring herself to say the word. Jack drank all day, every day, and weekends with Al were even worse. Wendy was in constant pain, and she couldn’t help but wonder how much of Jack’s drinking and their problems was her fault. She dreaded the day Danny would grow up and begin to assign blame for everything. Wendy knew she had to leave Jack—he was a drunk with a horrible temper, and, whether it was an accident or not, he broke Danny’s arm.
This passage represents the root of Wendy’s constant pain: she knows she should leave Jack, but she can’t. Wendy clearly cares for Jack and wants to keep her family together, even though this probably isn’t the safest thing for her or Danny. This (perhaps irresponsible) resolve to stay together also points to the strong connection within their family. Wendy can’t bring herself to break it, even when it is arguably the best thing to do.
Themes
Get the entire The Shining LitChart as a printable PDF.
When Danny was born, a caul covered his face. Wendy keeps the caul in jar, but she refuses to give into the caul’s superstition. Those born with a caul (a thin membrane covering the face or eyes) are said to have “second sight,” but Wendy doesn’t believe that. Still, Danny seems to know things, and he did say that Jack had an accident. After the night Danny had the dream about the accident, Jack changed. Even Al said nothing happened that night, but Wendy knew he was lying. She kept a close eye on the papers and waited for the police to show up, but nothing happened.
The image of Wendy scouring the papers for evidence of a horrible accident is a testament to how out of hand Jack’s drinking is. Wendy waits every day for the thing that will ruin their lives to happen, and it is taking a toll on her. Just like Danny pointed out earlier, Wendy refuses to believe in Danny’s “second sight,” even though she knows deep down that it is legitimate—the fact that she looks in the newspapers following Danny’s dream is evidence of this.
Themes
Wendy stayed with Jack for Danny’s sake. Danny and Jack are incredibly close, and while Wendy knows Danny loves her, he is really his father’s son. When Danny was a baby, he never once threw up on Jack, and he would always stop fussing whenever Jack soothed him. Wendy felt Danny’s opposition to her thoughts about divorce without ever saying a word, and he constantly asked if she loved him and Jack. At times, it seems to Wendy that her softening resolve about the divorce is due to the sheer determination of Danny’s will.
Wendy’s ability to feel Danny’s opposition to her thoughts of divorce suggest that Wendy may have some sort of precognition herself—or perhaps that her intuition as a mother is particularly strong and insightful. King implies throughout The Shining that people should pay more attention to intense feelings or hunches like these, since they often prove to be true.
Themes
In her sleep, Wendy does believe that Danny has “second sight,” and that she is “permanently welded” to Danny and Jack. In her sleep, Wendy believes that “their three/oneness” is so strong, that it can only be destroyed by an outside force, never one of them. Through all of their problems, Wendy never stopped loving Jack, except for when he broke Danny’s arm. More than anything, Wendy loves the three of them together, and this is her final thought as she drifts to sleep.
Wendy believes that Danny has “second sight” in her sleep because she subconsciously knows that it is true. Meanwhile, Wendy’s belief that her family is “permanently welded” together reflects the strength of the Torrance family. Wendy, Jack, and Danny are a solid unit, and only an outside force—like alcohol, or whatever events are in store for them at the Overlook—could possibly destroy them.
Themes
