In a particularly chilling moment, Jack expresses sympathy for his father.

He’s ashamed of who his father was, that is until he is firmly in the grasp of the hotel and has turned against his own family. Jack remembers his father beating his mother and dealing with his own addiction to alcohol. Particularly effective are the flashbacks to his father’s cruelty in his parent’s marriage. Mini stories and flashbacks included throughout the novel help readers better understand who Jack is and why the hotel is able to take hold of his mind.

The family has progressively torn apart as the hotel works to corrupt Jack Torrance’s mind. Before long, Wendy is blaming Jack for the injuries that Danny sustains (despite it being the hotel’s fault). It is put to the ultimate test when the family is caught up in the corrupting powers of the Overlook Hotel. His newfound sobriety is less firmly established than his wife would like it to be. When the reader is introduced to Jack Torrance, they learn about his alcoholic past and the reasons why he decided to quit drinking. So he manufactured ways in which other people could do it, lopping a piece at a time off himself and their family. Once, during the drinking phase, Wendy had accused him of desiring his own destruction but not possessing the necessary moral fiber to support a full-blown deathwish.

Here is a quote from the novel in which King is relaying Wendy’s opinion of Jack’s mental strength: But, not so much where her story takes away from the main issue at hand-battling the Overlook Hotel. King provides readers with just enough detail to make Wendy a well-rounded and interesting character. Wendy is well aware of the danger that her husband poses when he’s drunk.įlashbacks also reveal that she has seen a marriage dissolve firsthand (her parents’) and fears that what happened to them is going to happen to her. This includes those that might be handed out by his own father. Wendy Torrance is driven by a desire to improve her marriage but, beyond all, protect her son from any injuries that might come his way.

This is, despite the fact that his father, Jack, recently broke his arm in a drunken accident. He fears the possibility of divorce more than anything else. Danny, although only five years old, is well-aware of the troubles his parents are dealing with. When the novel begins, the Torrance family is teetering on the edge. Stephen King’s use of character development throughout this novel is what makes the book so thrilling and moving.

The shining book club edition