The Shining Analysis
Josh Tschantret 9th nov 2007

Many Stanley Kubrick fans are likely to know that his
films are cryptic in many ways and require heavy
analysis to uncover the deeper meanings that Kubrick
was trying to convey in his work. Most people find
the hidden messages in The Shining the most difficult
to interpret but after intense observation of all
Kubrick’s films I found this one the easiest to
unravel. I bet you’ll be amazed at what you didn’t
realize in this movie.

First of all, let me debunk some rumors that have
caused many to detract from the meaning of the film.
The two most popular mysteries of the film I have
found to have no long term significance in Kubrick’s
vision. The first is the shadow of the helicopter
seen in the bottom right hand corner of the screen
during the opening sequence. After researching some
about aspect ratios I realized that this is nothing
more than a mistake due to the size ratios of the
screen. This strikes many people as unusual because
Kubrick was a perfectionist, however, this doesn’t
mean he was infallible.

Secondly, the scene where the man in the dog costume
appears to be performing oral sex on a man in a suit
usually strikes people as odd. In the book, written
by Stephen King, there is a scene earlier in the story
where one homosexual man says that he will have
intercourse with another if he dresses like a good
little doggy. The scene we see appears in the novel
but we don’t have the appropriate knowledge to
interpret this unless we have read the book. Many
additional footage was cut out of the original release
therefore the previously mentioned scene could have
been shot and never used and Kubrick decided to leave
the second scene in to provoke a deeper sense of
confusion. Personally, I believe it’s Kubrick
message that we should read.

Now on to the fun stuff. Many reviewers have
appropriately suggested that the entire movie is a
metaphor for the killing of the Native Americans from
the times of European imperialism until modern day
American History. These critics are absolutely right
but many only realize the cryptic clues and seem to
miss the more obvious clues Kubrick gives us to get us
to realize his intentions. Now here’s my
interpretation from the beginning of the film until
the end so you can follow along if you please. The
metaphor develops with the movie itself.

In the opening sequence of the movie, the driving
sequence at 2 1/2 minutes through the film, we can
hear something that sounds incredibly like Indian
chants that soon turns into high pitched screams of
agony. Not hard to interpret, yet.

We see early on in the film that the area the Overlook
hotel occupies is beautiful scenic location which
represents the land of the Indians. The hotel itself
represents the western world’s occupation and upheaval
of the Indian lands. When Danny asks “Tony” what
happened there Danny sees a river of blood pouring
from out of the elevator. This is a metaphor for the
blood spilled of the Indians during western expansion,
or “there”, and he also sees a glimpse of the twins.
Also note that Danny is wearing a Native American belt
hinting that he is the metaphorical Indian character.
Next we hear about how Jack had injured Danny. For
now it’s seems unimportant but notice how Wendy
disregards it and pawns it off as an acceptable act.

Once we enter the hotel we hear about the Native
American woodcrafts and all the Native American decor.
This represents that we took some Native American
culture into our society but it was miniscule in the
grand scheme of things. Then we hear that the hotel
was built on an old Indian burial ground, further
reassurance that the land was stolen from the Native
Americans forming a metaphor of the land we stole from
them. Mr. Uhlman states that they had to repel Indian
attacks, this parallels the fact that we fought the
Natives over their land.

We are then introduced to the head chef, essentially a
servant, who happens to be the only black man in the
movie. Both Danny and Wendy take time to talk with
Dick Hallorann while Jack goes a different direction.
We can notice that Wendy’s clothes begin to appear
more like Native American clothes and begin to look
more like that as the movie goes on. Remember Danny’s
Native American belt. It’s no longer time to be
cryptic, Danny and Wendy represent the Native American
Indians.

Here’s another interesting item conveniently located
in the movie. Right behind Mr. Hallorann’s head in
the pantry, as Danny communicates through the Shining
with him, we see a can of baking soda with a large
picture of a Native American. They are in the food
storage so it can be assumed that Kubrick is saying
that Native Americans were used for their food. It’s
historically accurate to say that once we learned to
negotiate with the Native Americans that we used up
their food supplies and gained their trust so we could
learn the secrets of their agricultural society.

Notice the very large tapestry that hangs above the
fireplace when Jack is throwing the tennis ball. The
picture looks uncannily like the twins who Danny
encounters. This means that the twin girls also
represent the Native Americans, we have now made a
connection between the two families.

Soon comes the scene where Jack lashes out against
Wendy. The most symbolic part of this discussion is
when Jack tells Wendy that they are going to make a
new “rule”, that she will not enter the room he works
in. This is when the puzzle starts forming. We know
that Wendy represents the Native Americans now it’s
apparent that Jack represent the western civilization
that killed and oppressed the Natives. This “rule” is
a metaphor of all acts in American History that
removed the Natives from their land, the most famous
being the Removal Act that forced the Natives to
migrate to another territory. Also, Wendy remains
calm and obedient without any objection just as the
Natives traveled without objection, they called it the
trail of tears.

Next we have the scene where Danny encounters the
twins on his tricycle. This reaffirms the what I said
in the last paragraph. We see the twins that we now
know represent Native Americans. Next we see how they
were brutally murdered as the Natives were in real
life. This brings forth new enlightenment. We now
know this was the family Mr. Uhlman mentioned that was
murdered by the father. We now realize that the wife
and children of each family represent the Natives
murdered by the imperialistic Europeans, or in this
case the fathers. The only difference is that the
families are in different time periods, one past one
present.

Nothing else strikes a chord along these line until
Jack goes to the bar. When he’s talking with the
bartender, Lloyd, Jack repeats the line White Man’s
Burden. What’s very funny is that this line has no
meaning in the context in their conversation or the
horror story. The White Man’s Burden was a poem
written by Rudyard Kippling, it reiterated his opinion
that non-European people were uncivilized and we
needed to invade their lands in order to make them
members of a proper society. The poem has since been
used as a justification for imperialism as a nobel
enterprise. Kubrick throws this out of the blue to
purposely catch our attention.

This is where things start to get confusing, not too
bad though. The scene where the woman gets out of the
shower. Notice the large mirror that seems to be
reflecting everything, there is always a mirror
present when Jack encounters a ghost. Jacks presence
seems to make the young woman deteriorate, remember
that this is the wife of Delbert Grady, she again
represents the Native Americans. So Jack didn’t
murder the woman but when he sees Wendy he denies that
there was such a woman. This parallels the idea that
although the modern western society didn’t murder the
Native Americans they still deny the events that
happened just as Jack didn’t murder the woman but he
denies there was a woman.

The next scene also seems to baffle many, when Jack
enters the Gold Room and it’s filled with people.
Remember Danny’s talk with Dick Hallorann in the
kitchen, Hallorann says that places can Shine too and
he emphasizes that sometimes they can take you to
place along time ago. I believe that’s what is
happening here, the hotel is Shining with Jack and
bringing him to a place a long time ago. If you pay
attention during the movie everyone has a moment of
Shining, particularly whenever they see an event from
the past.

Then comes the bathroom scene with Jack and Grady.
Jack asks Grady if he has ever seen him before. Grady
responds no and bends down , then Jack looks directly
into the mirror. The mirror means that Grady is
simply the reflection of Jack or in other words they
represent the same person in different time periods.
There is always a mirror present when Jack encounter a
ghost because the ghost represents him or his family
only in a different time period. Jack also only looks
at the ghosts into the mirror because in reality they
aren’t there. Also, Grady refers to Hallorann as a
nigger and Jack repeats this. This means that the
racism of the past inevitably influences us in the
present. My interpretation of this scene is the pasts
influence on our society today and that the genocide
of the Indians repeats itself through society as Jack
goes after his family, it may even suggest the murder
of other races.

In another mirror related scene Danny writes redrum on
the door in his apartment. We don’t notice it spells
murder until we see it reflected in the mirror meaning
that our society’s understanding of the treatment of
the Natives is “backwards”, it’s still murder
REGARDLESS OF HOW YOU LOOK AT IT.

Next, while trying to kill Wendy and Danny, Jack ends
up killing Dick Hallorann. This is saying that while
the Europeans were murdering the Native Americans the
Africans came over and they were killed too or, in
reality, used as slaves and died during their service
just as Hallorann is killed during his service.

In the end, Jack represents the tyrannical Europeans
and Wendy and Danny represent the Native Americans.
They should have been a family and been able to live
together in harmony but that’s not the way it turned
out. The genocide of the Native Americans is often
OVERLOOKED hence the name overlook hotel. Also, this
is another time Kubrick tricks us. The movie isn’t
about the horror of a father going crazy from
isolation, a fact most people overlook. Other hints
include that much of the hotel’s interior is often
red, representing the blood stained there.

This is all I’ve found but there’s much more to the
story. What was the significance of the room with all
the skeletons, in one part I believe there was someone
else in the back round. In the end picture, why is
someone pulling Jack and what is that small piece of
paper Jack is holding in his right hand? Many people
believe that Kubrick left secrets to the Illuminati.
In the scene where Wendy is looking at what Jack has
been typing we see artwork on the ceiling that appears
to contain a group of triangles with circles in the
center. There are many other secrets that have yet to
be unraveled.

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