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The manager of the Overlook Hotel. Jack thinks that Ullman is an “officious little prick” the first time he meets him, and Ullman indeed admits he is a “bastard.” He takes his job running the Overlook Hotel seriously, and he fiercely guards its secrets and scandals. When Ullman interviews Jack for the job as the winter caretaker, he specifically brings up Jack’s history with alcoholism and the fact that he was fired from his last job as a means to embarrass him, and he tells Jack he wouldn’t hire him if not for Al Shockley’s insistence. Ullman manages a Florida resort during the offseason, and Jack calls him there in early November to ask about the scrapbook. As their conversation deteriorates (Jack is determined to get revenge on Ullman for embarrassing Jack during his job interview), Ullman forbids Jack to write a book about the Overlook and threatens to fire him. Jack hangs up on Ullman, and Al tells Jack never to call Ullman again—not even if the hotel is on fire. There is no evidence to suggest that Ullman is involved in the hotel’s more sinister side, but he diligently works on the hotel’s behalf, almost obsessively, as if compelled by the hotel itself.
Stuart Ullman Quotes in The Shining
The The Shining quotes below are all either spoken by Stuart Ullman or refer to Stuart Ullman. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 3 Quotes
“She creeps,” Watson said. “You tell that fat little peckerwood Ullman, he drags out the account books and spends three hours showing how we can’t afford a new one until 1982. I tell you, this whole place is gonna go sky-high someday, and I just hope that fat fuck’s here to ride the rocket.
Related Characters:
Watson (speaker), Jack Torrance, Stuart Ullman
Related Symbols:
The Boiler
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
27
Explanation and Analysis:
This quote occurs near the beginning of Stephen King’s The Shining, when Watson shows Jack the boiler at the Overlook Hotel, and it is important because it introduces the hotel’s boiler and establishes it as a bit of a problem. The boiler is old, and it doesn’t have an automatic shut off. The boiler’s temperature “creeps” constantly, and it must be checked and dumped twice daily. Watson wants a new boiler, but Ullman is cheap and says it isn’t in the budget. The boiler, Watson warns, is going to blow up one day.
The Overlook’s boiler is symbolic of Jack’s building insanity and murderous rage. Like the boiler, Jack “creeps.” He has a hair-trigger temper and quickly sweeps from calm, to irritated, to irate. As Jack’s insanity builds under the sinister forces of the hotel, he begins to forget about the boiler. He goes for 12 hours without checking it, and it nearly blows. Jack completely forgets about the boiler after his psychotic break at the novel’s climax, and the boiler blows “sky-high,” just like Watson warns, killing Jack and burning the evil hotel to the ground.
Get the entire The Shining LitChart as a printable PDF.
Stuart Ullman Quotes in The Shining
The The Shining quotes below are all either spoken by Stuart Ullman or refer to Stuart Ullman. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 3 Quotes
“She creeps,” Watson said. “You tell that fat little peckerwood Ullman, he drags out the account books and spends three hours showing how we can’t afford a new one until 1982. I tell you, this whole place is gonna go sky-high someday, and I just hope that fat fuck’s here to ride the rocket.
Related Characters:
Watson (speaker), Jack Torrance, Stuart Ullman
Related Symbols:
The Boiler
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
27
Explanation and Analysis:
This quote occurs near the beginning of Stephen King’s The Shining, when Watson shows Jack the boiler at the Overlook Hotel, and it is important because it introduces the hotel’s boiler and establishes it as a bit of a problem. The boiler is old, and it doesn’t have an automatic shut off. The boiler’s temperature “creeps” constantly, and it must be checked and dumped twice daily. Watson wants a new boiler, but Ullman is cheap and says it isn’t in the budget. The boiler, Watson warns, is going to blow up one day.
The Overlook’s boiler is symbolic of Jack’s building insanity and murderous rage. Like the boiler, Jack “creeps.” He has a hair-trigger temper and quickly sweeps from calm, to irritated, to irate. As Jack’s insanity builds under the sinister forces of the hotel, he begins to forget about the boiler. He goes for 12 hours without checking it, and it nearly blows. Jack completely forgets about the boiler after his psychotic break at the novel’s climax, and the boiler blows “sky-high,” just like Watson warns, killing Jack and burning the evil hotel to the ground.
