Symbolism in The Shining
In most well made films, “hidden” symbols are waiting to be uncovered by a discerning eye. Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining is undoubtedly one of these films that have an abundance of symbols, many of which have even caused the birth of conspiracy theories. Using blood, a German typewriter, and a maze as symbols, Kubrick is able to create an underlying theme that history repeats itself when people do not learn from their mistakes.
The presence of blood represents the death of victims of murder. Built above the burial ground of the Native Americans, the Overlook Hotel has a hallway, which is shown to be flooded by blood in several scenes. Noticing the inundation of blood in the hotel, there have been various film critics who claim that this film is “about the genocide of Native Americans.” (Ascher, Room 237) The blood is presented in drops, but instead as a flood, representing the blood of a large number of people: the Native Americans. Moreover, the blood also represents the death of the twins
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The labyrinth is often depicted as a site where people usually meet dead ends. Those who are lost in the maze have to retrace their steps and “learn to find [their] own way out.” (Psychology of Maze) This is shown when Danny traces back his step to avoid Jack, his father who tries to kill him. On the other hand, those who are unable to learn from their mistakes will most likely end up losing their way in life. This is represented by Jack, who wanders around in the maze, shouting that he is “coming.[He] is right behind.” (Kubrick, The Shining) By solely thinking about killing Danny and without looking back the path he has come across, he loses Danny and his way out. Hence, the maze symbolizes the obstacles everyone faces in life and that they can only be overcome when people learn from their wrong
The movie the Labyrinth tells a story about a group of unlikely heroes trying to make their way though a maze in order to defeat the Goblin King. The story starts out with the main character Sarah whom, without even realizing it, wishes her baby brother to be taken way by Jareth the Goblin King. He tells her that if she wants her brother back she will have to make her way through the labyrinth and to the castle beyond the Goblin City. She only has 13 hours to complete the seemingly impossible task or her little brother Toby will be turned into a goblin. While making her way through the twisted and endless maze Sarah runs into many weird characters. The first person she encounters is Hoggle a very untrustworthy dwarf whom is under the influence of Jareth. He is selfish and does things only if there is something for him to gain. He betrays Sarah many times throughout the movie, but in the end he proves himself to be more than a traitorous coward. Ludo is a yeti and despite looking vicious is a gentle and caring monster. Ludo also has the power to control rocks. Sir Didymis is a loudmouthed, but noble knight who displays his valor throughout the movie. The four heroes manage to fight their way through the perilous labyrinth. The Goblin King Jareth is defeated and Sarah’s brother Toby is saved. Though the characters in this movie seemed to be nothing more than ordinary, and if not odd, they fought their way through labyrinth and conquered an entire army of evil goblins and their king. (Labyrinth 1986)
In the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey, created by Dr. Arthur C. Clarke and Stanley Kubrick, the plot sequences that are symbolic. The section of the movie called “The Dawn of Man” has many examples of symbolism. First, there are five things in “The Dawn of Man” that show the endangerment of a species. Bones, the search for food, a leopard easily killing an ape, the frightened eyes of an ape during the night, and the first invasion at the waterhole show the Australiopithicine’s weakness and their failure to fully protect themselves against predators and competitors. Next, the conjunction symbolizes an important event in human history. For instance, the eerie yet powerful music that is played during the image of the conjunction symbolizes the spiritual unknown. In addition, the Australiopithic...
In the book The Giver, Louis Lowry uses symbolism to induce the reader to think about the significance of an object or character in the book. She uses symbolism using objects or characters to represent something when she wants readers to think about its significance. She chooses not to tell her readers directly, but indirectly, by using symbolism. For example, she used light eyes, Gabriel and the sled as types of symbols with different meanings.
In his classic novel, Lord of the Flies, William Golding uses many elements of symbolism to help the readers gain a greater understanding of his message. Symbolism can be anything, a person, place, or thing, used to portray something beyond its self. It is used to represent or foreshadow the conclusion of the story. As one reads this novel, he or she will begin to recognize the way basic civilization is slowly stripped away from the boys as conflict between civilization and savagery arises.
Innocence lies within everyone in at least one point in their lives, but as reality consumes them, that purity begins to vanish slowly as they learn new experiences. In the coming of age novel set in the nineteen-forties, J.D Salinger writes about a sixteen-year-old boy named Holden Caulfield who stands between a road that separates childhood from adulthood and is confused about which path to take. On a three-day trip in New York away from his family and fellow peers at school, Holden encounters many situations in which lead him to think twice about who he wants to become and how he wants to guide others who are in the same situation he is in. In The Catcher in the Rye, J.D Salinger utilizes symbolism, vivid imagery, and slangy diction to expose Holden’s struggle to preserve the innocence of the people that he loves while alienating himself from the adult world he calls “phony.”
The Scarlet Letter, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, includes a variety of symbolism, which plays a significant role in the book. The most significant symbol in The Scarlet Letter is Hester Prynne's daughter, Pearl, whom Hester bore as a result of her sin of adultery. Hester "named the infant "Pearl" as being of great price, -purchased with all she had, -her mother's only treasure!"(Hawthorne 75) As a consequence for Hester's sin, she is forced to wear the letter "A", for adultery, on her chest for the rest of her life. However, the scarlet letter is not the most severe consequence for her sin, Pearl gives Hester the most grief, "the scarlet letter in another form". (Hawthorne 84) Yet, if it were not for Pearl, Hester would not have been able to survive the pure agony of life itself. Pearl is like the wild red rose outside the prison door, giving Hester hope that everything would turn out positive. Pearl is not just a mere token of sin, her purpose is much greater- she symbolizes the love affair of Hester and Dimmesdale, Hester's passionate nature, she is a living daily punishment to Hester, and a living conscience for Dimmesdale. Yet, Pearl is the one who saves Hester from death and Dimmesdale from eternal sorrow. She forces Hester to live on and kisses Dimmesdale to show her filial love. She both guides them and teaches them the true lessons of life.
One of the most iconic horror movies of all time is arguably, The Shining directed by Stanley Kubrick, but preceding the movie was the novel of the same name written by Stephen King. Throughout the novel King intertwines symbolism and rhetorical devices such as hyperbaton and allusion in order to craft a complex and thought-provoking piece of literature.
“Do you have the slightest idea what a moral or ethical principle is?” Deontology, or the adherence of one’s actions to a certain moral or ethical principle of operation, stands as an intruiging philosophy by itself. The opening sentence of this essay clearly possesses relevance to deontology. However, the quote does not originate from any philosopher, but instead from Jack Torrance of Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining. The film, from a superficial point of view, stands as an atmospheric horror film. However, instead of providing audiences with just a technically proficient film, Kubrick weaves the grounds for a foreboding subtext throughout his film. This essay examines The Shining by examining Robert Tonkin’s distinction between religion and
The Webster Dictionary defines a lighthouse as “a structure (as a tower) with a powerful light that gives a continuous or intermittent signal to navigators.” (Webster) So, in other words, a lighthouse is a beacon, a beacon to many. It's a place people who have lost their way look toward for direction. A lighthouse is a "tall” unmoving structure. The lighthouse also has a light that does often move. As the sun sets the light is turned on, however, as the sun rises the light is turned off. The Lighthouse offers a force for life towards the Ramsey family, pushing on both the plot (the novel begins with the conflict arising because James's desire to go to the lighthouse) and the streams of consciousness that go along. The Lighthouse has a clear
The realism movement of the late nineteenth century produced works in literature that were marked by reduced sentimentality and increased objectivity. The goal was to let details tell the story, and remove noticeable bias of the author through scientific and detailed descriptions. While this form of storytelling undoubtedly is most accurate, it creates difficulties for authors to incorporate their themes into the story. This resulted in an increase in symbolism in realist works. The objects and descriptions within the story are the author’s vehicle for displaying the values and themes of the work. Light and darkness are symbols commonly used in literature, and have held specific symbolic meanings for hundreds of years. Simply stated, light commonly symbolizes good, while darkness symbolizes its antithesis - evil. (Cooper) For centuries light vs. dark has been quite possibly the most common symbol in all literature. In Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad uses detail to create a feeling that transcends the literal text - most notably through his use of light and dark and the inversion of their traditional meanings. The end goal of this inversion is the establishment of the theme that not everything is as it seems. More specifically, Conrad uses detailed imagery of light and dark to show often times white men can be more savage than the natives.
‘The Possibility of Evil’ by Shirley Jackson is about an old woman named Miss Strangeworth who is trying to cleanse the evil out of her town. She writes offensive letters to people in her town to help them change, only to find out, she’s really the evil one. In the short story ‘The Possibility of Evil’ , Shirley Jackson focuses on multiple craft moves to show the characters motivation. She uses symbolism and inner thinking to show show it. She lastly uses flashbacks to show the characters motivation.
Symbolism In "The Things They Carried" In Tim O'Brien's story "The Things They Carried" we see how O'Brien uses symbolism in order to indirectly give us a message and help us to connect to what the soldiers are thinking and feeling. During a war, soldiers tend to take with them items from home, kind of as a security blanket. The items they normally take with them tend to reveal certain characteristics of their personality. Henry Dobbins is the guy who loves to eat, so he made sure he took some extra food. Ted Lavender was the scaredy cat of the group, so he carried tranquilizers with him.
Light, especially fire, and darkness are significantly reoccurring themes in Fahrenheit 451. Guy Montag, the main character, is a fireman, but in this futuristic world the job description of a fireman is to start fires wherever books are found; instead of putting them out. Montag takes a journey from a literary darkness to a knowledgeable light. This journey can be compared to the short story Allegory of the Cave by Plato, in which a prisoner experiences a similar journey. An example of light, in reference to knowledge, occurs just after Montag meets Clarisse for the first time. "When they reached her house all its lights were blazing" (9). Since Montag had rarely seen that many house lights on, I interpreted those lines as saying "that house is full of knowledge and enlightenment; not like the rest of the houses around here which are always dark." Clarisse went on to explain to Montag that her mother, father, and uncle were just sitting around and talking. This was also something that wasn't very commonplace in the city. Fire is an important element of symbolism in Fahrenheit 451. Fire consumes minds, spirits, men, ideas, and books. Fire plays two very different roles in this book. The role of a destructive, devouring, and life ending force, and the role of a nourishing flame.
In his classic horror film, The Shining, Stanley Kubrick utilizes many different elements of editing to create unique and terrifying scenes. Kubrick relies on editing to assist in the overall terrifying and horrifying feel created in the movie. Editing in the movie creates many different effects, but the most notable effects created add to the continuity of the film as well as the sense of fear and terror.
The novel The Maze Runner by James Dashner begins with a teenage boy waking up in an elevator who has no memory of the past, only that his name is Thomas. When the doors of the elevator open up he is pulled into a humongous square surrounding, called the Glade, by a group of teenage boys. The boys in the Glade refer to themselves as the ‘Gladers’. Thomas learns that the Gladers have lived in there for two years and that the Glade is located in the center of a maze which contains a labyrinth of high walls that move during the night and deadly creatures called grievers. The Glade is led by two boys, Alby and Newt; they both maintain order in the Glade by enforcing strict rules and jobs that keep the Gladers busy. A day after Thomas’ arrival an unknown girl arrives in the Glade. This shocks everyone because the Gladers only receive a new person every month, never within the same week. This also shocks everyone because she was the only girl in a maze full of boys. The girl also gives a message that everything is going to change and that she is the last one ever. Right after her message she immediately falls into a coma. The arrival of the girl causes many things to go chaotic including the sun seizing to rise, the Gladers stop receiving supplies from the creators of the maze, and the doors of the Glade that protect the Gladers from the grievers at night stop closing. When the girl, Teresa wakes up she informs Thomas that they both knew each other in the past and that the maze was a code. Thomas and the people who run around the maze to map out the labyrinth, the runners, look through the archives of the maps and find out the code. Then the leader of the runners, Minho, figures out that the cliff they thought was just a cliff was actua...