Jack Torrance’s enigmatic final photo in 1921, and how the Overlook Hotel attracts more than just guests, explains The Shining’s ending
Have you ever wondered if the Jack Torrance from The Shining has been trapped in the Overlook Hotel his entire life? Well, here’s the crux of it, and believe me, we’ve researched it thoroughly. The Overlook Hotel is much more than a pile of wood and nails; It’s a bubbling cauldron of trapped souls, and it seems Jack is one of them. Or maybe he always has been. follow me?
If you’ve ever delved into this Stanley Kubrick horror classic, you’ve probably come across that enigmatic final photo showing Jack Torrance at a Fourth of July dance in 1921. Kubrick took Stephen King’s book and made some changes to it. that photo, my friends, is the brain of the puzzle. But let’s go in parts.
The story of a family, a hotel and a boy with powers
To refresh your memory, in The Shining we follow Jack Torrance (played by the iconic Jack Nicholson), a writer seeking inspiration who takes his family to the remote Overlook Hotel in Colorado. Jack thinks it will be a perfect opportunity to isolate himself from the world and finish his book. But who could write in peace in a place with such a dark past?
Another key piece of the puzzle is Danny, Jack’s son, who possesses a psychic ability known as “The Gift”. Danny uses this ability to communicate with the hotel’s chef, Dick Hallorann, who also shares this “gift”. But after being warned by the enigmatic Delbert Grady that Danny must be “corrected”, Jack begins to lose his mind.
Chaos, confrontation and reincarnation?
Now, after all the fuss with Jack trying to “fix” his family and Wendy and Danny’s desperate escape, we’re faced with that final photo that has us scratching our heads. Why is Jack in that 1921 photo? Has he always been there? According to Kubrick, yes. In an interview with film critic Michel Ciment, Kubrick suggests that the picture points to the Reincarnation of Jackindicating that Jack could have been a guest or employee of the hotel in a past life.
The hotel seems to absorb the souls of those who inhabit it and Jack is no exception. So perhaps the Overlook Hotel not only trapped Jack during that fateful winter stay, but trapped him forever. Can you imagine being trapped in a reincarnation cycle in a creepy hotel? It’s madness, but also pure cinematic genius, which made this film stand out in horror cinema.
The other side of the coin: The Shining according to Stephen King
But hey, let’s not forget Stanley Kubrick took some creative license when adapting Stephen King’s novel. In the book version, the Overlook Hotel ends up in ashes, due to the faulty boiler that Jack Torrance forgets to check. Of course, before the hotel explodes, Jack manages to have a moment of clarity, in which his love for Danny overcomes the hotel’s malevolent influence, allowing his family to escape.
Years later, Stephen King presents us with Doctor Sleep, the sequel that follows Danny Torrance, already an adult. Here, Danny uses his “gift” to help others and faces a group that preys on children with psychic abilities. Additionally, Danny’s character serves as a bridge to better understand the events of his childhood and his father’s dark legacy.
In short, while in Kubrick’s film Jack is trapped forever in the Overlook, in King’s universe the story continues to flow, allowing for a more hopeful and less cyclical resolution.