The Issue Surround Abuse In The Shining By Steven King
In the novel The Shining, King again depicts the underlying portal of alcoholism, however, in addition, addiction to alcoholism is intertwined with abuse, shame and temptation. In King’s novel The Shining the father, Jack Torrance, has experienced a lifetime of abuse in the forms of the abused and the abuser. As we see throughout the novel, Jack struggles with his past, unable to let go of the memories he has of his abusive father and his own abuse towards his son, Danny. Depicted throughout the novel is the relationship that Jack had with his abusive father as well as the internal struggle he is faced with, resulting from his past mistakes and wrongdoing upon his son (the past repeats itself), “In those days it had not seemed strange to Jack that the father won all his arguments with his children by use of his fists, and it had not seemed strange that his own love should go hand-in-hand with his fear…”. This correlation shows just how much our experiences shape us as individuals. For example, a child who comes from an abusive home might not see anything wrong with what is occurring. Therefore, it would not be surprising if that child grew up exhibiting similar abusive behaviors and/or patterns.
Furthering this idea of abuse, we see a similar pattern of turmoil that creeps up into the forefront from the past of Jack’s wife (Wendy) who suffered an emotionally abusive relationship with her mother, an abuse that still continues. Both of these tumultuous relationships have a strong hold and impactful influence on both Jack and Wendy. One can argue that the ghosts depicted in the ‘Overlook’ symbolizes the ghosts from Jack and Wendy’s past that currently haunt them. This symbolism shows how detrimental the past can be in that when we put so much emphasis and energy into those events they begin to bleed into present day situations with respect to how we handle and react to situations. King brings this symbolism together seamlessly in a quote by Wendy: “(Oh we are wrecking this boy. It’s not just Jack, it’s me too, and maybe it’s not even just us, Jack’s father, my mother, are they here too? Sure, why not? The place is lousy with ghosts anyway, why not a couple more? Oh the Lord in heaven he’s like one of those suitcases they show on TV, run over, dropped from planes going through factory crushers. Or a Timex watch. Takes a licking and it keeps on ticking. Oh Danny I’m so sorry)”.
Overall, there were many areas that would have warranted a good discussion on King’s writing of The Shining, however, the issue surround abuse is one that many individuals can either relate to or understand in some facet. Alluding to this abuse I feel that this symbolism portrayed in King’s novel can shed some light on the powerful and life change affects that abuse can have on an individual.
