Dick Hallorann Character Analysis

The cook at the Overlook Hotel. Jack, Wendy, and Danny Torrance first meet Hallorann when they arrive at the hotel for the winter. Like Danny, Hallorann can “shine,” or sense people’s thoughts and emotions, although his powers aren’t as strong as Danny’s. Hallorann’s grandmother could shine, too, and it is Hallorann who warns Danny about the Overlook Hotel. He tells Danny that people who shine see terrible things in the hotel, like pictures in a book, but he doesn’t think the images can hurt Danny. Hallorann knows better than to leave Danny in the hotel “shining like he does,” so he tells Danny to give him a call if he gets into trouble—Danny’s shine is so strong that he can send Hallorann telepathic messages all the way from Colorado to Florida. While in Florida, Hallorann begins to have premonitions of his death, and he is inexplicably compelled to draft a will and get his affairs in order. Then, he receives a frantic shout for help from Danny. Hallorann doesn’t want to go back to the Overlook—he hates it there—but he is drawn to Danny and feels he must help him. Hallorann works his way back to the Overlook Hotel, where he goes up against Jack and the sinister animal topiaries guarding the front of the hotel. Jack nearly kills him, as do the topiaries, but Hallorann is there to watch the hotel burn and drive Wendy and Danny down the mountain, saving their lives. However, before Hallorann gets Wendy and Danny down the mountain, Hallorann stops in the equipment shed, and the evil forces of the hotel nearly take him over, too. In the equipment shed, Hallorann is drawn to the remaining roque mallet and has thoughts of killing Wendy and Danny, but fights the urge and saves their lives instead. At the end of the novel, Hallorann is working at a Maine resort, where he happily sits with Wendy and Danny. The character of Hallorann underscores King’s argument that feelings of intuition and instincts—one’s power to shine—are important and worth paying attention to.