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
As the Torrances’ old Volkswagen putts up Sidewinder Pass on the way to the Overlook Hotel, Wendy reads the road signs to Danny. They pass signs warning danger and falling rocks, and as they climb higher into the Rocky Mountains, Wendy eyes the rock cliffs nervously. The mountains are beautiful but unforgiving, and Wendy can’t help but think about the Donner Party. She asks Jack again if the hotel’s larder is fully stocked, and he says it is. When they arrive, they are supposed to meet up with Hallorann, the hotel’s cook, for a tour of the kitchen and pantries.
The Donner Party was a group of American pioneers who, while wagon-training to California, were snowbound in the Sierra Nevada and resorted to cannibalism to survive. Wendy frequently thinks about the Donner Party while at the Overlook, which is rooted in her worry that she and her family will run out of food during the winter. Wendy’s obsession with the larder and the Donners is move evidence of the Torrances’ extreme isolation at the Overlook during the winter.
Themes
Climbing the mountain, the car begins to choke and sputter, so Jack parks to let it rest for a moment. They get out of the car and can see the Overlook in the distance. Wendy is struck by how beautiful it is, and she yells to Danny to look, but he has a fallen into a daze with his eyes clouded over. Jack shakes him and asks if he is alright, and Danny’s eyes clear immediately. He was thinking, he tells his parents, and didn’t mean to scare them. Back in the car, Danny knows that the Overlook is the building from his visions. It is the place with all the snow and the figure stalking him with a mallet. In a moment of absolute fright, Danny knows that “Redrum,” whatever it is, is at the Overlook Hotel.
Danny is constantly afraid at the Overlook, both of the hotel itself and of Jack, and this fear begins before Danny even gets to the hotel. Danny’s eyes cloud over because he is having a premonition, likely the vision of Jack chasing him with the mallet. The sad state of the Torrances’ car further cements their isolation at the secluded hotel—the car isn’t likely to make it anywhere else, meaning they won’t be able to leave the hotel even if the roads are passible.
Themes
