The enigmatic final photo of Jack Torrance is set in 1921 and The Shining Finale explains how the Overlook Hotel not only attracts guests.
Have you ever wondered if Jack Torrance from The Shining has been trapped in the Overlook Hotel his whole life? Well, there’s the gist, and trust me, we’ve researched it thoroughly. The Overlook Hotel is more than a pile of wood and nails; It’s a melting pot of trapped souls, and Jack seems to be one of them. Or maybe it always was. do you follow
If you’ve ever dived into this Stanley Kubrick horror classic, the 2010 You may have come across the enigmatic final photo of Jack Torrance at a Fourth of July dance in 1921. Kubrick took Stephen King’s book and made some edits. That photo, my friends, is the brain of the puzzle. But let’s go by class.
A story of a family, a hotel and a boy
To refresh your memory, we follow writer Jack Torrance (played by the brilliant Jack Nicholson) in The Shining as he takes his family to the remote Overlook Hotel in Colorado in search of inspiration. Jack thinks it will be a good opportunity to isolate himself from the world and finish his book. But where there is such darkness, who can write in peace?
Another key piece of the puzzle is Danny, Jack’s son, who has a psychic ability known as “The Gift.” Danny uses this ability to communicate with the hotel’s chef, Dick Halloran, who shares this “gift”. Jack begins to lose his mind as the enigmatic Delbert Grady warns that Danny “must be fixed.”
Chaos, conflict and reincarnation?
Now, after the upheaval of Jack trying to “fix” his family and Wendy and Danny’s desperate escape, we’re all faced with a final photo that will leave us scratching our heads. Why is Jack in that 1921 photo? Was it always there? Like Kubrick, yes. In an interview with film critic Michel Ciment, Kubrick suggests that the photo represents Jack’s reincarnation, suggesting that Jack may have been a hotel guest or employee in a past life.
The hotel seems to attract the souls of the people who live in it, and Jack is no different. So maybe the Overlook Hotel didn’t just trap Jack during that difficult winter stay, it trapped him forever. Can you imagine being trapped in a cycle of reincarnation in a haunted hotel? It’s crazy that makes this film stand out in horror cinema, but it’s also pure cinematic genius.
The other side of the coin: Stephen King shines.
But hey, let’s not forget that Stanley Kubrick took some creative license when adapting Stephen King’s novel. In the book version, the Overlook Hotel is reduced to ashes thanks to a faulty boiler that Jack Torrance forgot to check. Of course, before the hotel explodes, Jack manages to enjoy a moment where his love for Danny overcomes the hotel’s evil influence and allows the family to escape.
Years after Stephen King brings us Doctor Sleep, the sequel next to Danny Torrance is now a grown man. Here, Danny uses his “gift” to help others and confronts a group of children with psychic abilities. Moreover, Danny’s character serves as a bridge to better understand his childhood and his father’s dark legacy.
In short, while in Kubrick’s film, Jack is forever blocked from view, in King’s universe, the story continues to flow, allowing for a more hopeful and less cyclical resolution.