Imagery And Symbolism In The Shining By Stephen King

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. Throughout the novel King refers the phrase “REDRUM” in the main character, Danny Torrance’s, psychic-like visions where his imaginary friend, Tony, created by Danny subconsciously to deal with his parents failing marriage and his father's alcoholism, once the Torrance’s arrive at the Overlook hotel. King uses this phrase because it doesn’t exactly mean anything the way it is, but when reversed,

King also spells out pretty clearly his reasons for doing this by saying they “could serve as both a workable symbol for what he [Jack] had been through […] and an omen for a better future” (117). and that “he had unwittingly stuck his hand into The Great Wasps’ Nest of Life. […] Could you be expected to behave as a thinking human being when your hand was being impaled on red-hot darning needles?” (118-119). King also alludes back to wasps with his description of the snowmobile in the shed of the hotel saying, “Sitting there in its shaft of morning sun, yellow body and black piping, black skis, and black upholstered open cockpit, it looked like a monstrous mechanized wasp” (405). This description shows the skill of the hotel to pervert reality and cause Jack to feel an aversion to the snowmobile even though it is the only way for him and his family to escape the hotel. King uses wasps in order to illustrate the effect of the hotel on Jack's psyche as well as add to the overall complexity of the

The roque mallet is mentioned for the first time during an incident with Tony and from then on Danny has frequent visions of some creature using the mallet as a weapon. In a way, Danny's visions come true. Towards the end of the book Jack, now being referred to as “it” due to his state of possession, turns the mallet of himself: “[…]instead of aiming at Danny, it reversed the handle, aiming the hard side of the roque mallet at its own face. […] Then the mallet began to rise and descend, destroying the last of Jack Torrance's image. […] What remained of the face became a strange and shifting composite” (576-78). This use of the mallet as a symbol adds to the suspense of the novel. This also acts as a symbol for truly horrific event sas well as the point where there is nothing left of Jack in his body, the hotel is personifying itself as the murderous, insane