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Chapter 42
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Shining, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Fear, the Paranormal, and Reality
Precognition, Second Sight, and the Shining
Family
Isolation and Insanity
Alcoholism and Abuse
Time
Summary
Analysis
Standing in the dining room, Jack can hear the Overlook “coming to life.” Jack can’t explain exactly how he hears the hotel, but he guesses it is something like Danny’s shining. “Like father, like son,” Jack says. All of the hotel’s eras have come together, except for the “Torrance Era.” The current time period stands outside, but it will soon combine with the others as well.
Again, Jack is shining when he hears the hotel come to life. It seems that only people who have moved on from the hotel or passed away are part of this amalgam of different eras at the Overlook, so the Torrance Era seemingly won’t combine with the other time periods in the hotel until the Torrances have been gotten rid of—one way or another.
Themes
In the Overlook’s ballroom, there are decade’s worth of business conventions taking place at the same time, and in the dining room, 70 years of meals are served simultaneously. All of the guest rooms are filled, and there is steady chatter and cigarette smoke coming from the Colorado Lounge. Jack pushes through the batwing doors and is greeted by Lloyd. Lloyd asks what he can get him, and Jack orders up a martini. Jack places a 20 on the bar, and when Lloyd serves his drink, he pushes the money back. There is no charge for Jack, Lloyd says, on the manger’s order.
Time is not linear, nor does it unfold in a predictable way at the Overlook. Everything happens at once, causing time to collapse and become meaningless. When Jack enters the bar, he orders 20 martinis, just like he imagines earlier. Only this time, Jack doesn’t seem to realize that he is hallucinating.
Themes
Jack is confused. What manager? Lloyd explains that the manager will see to Danny later. The manager has great interest in Danny and thinks he is a very talented boy. Jack can’t imagine what Danny has to do with any of this, and he wonders what he is doing in a bar with a drink. Jack is “on the wagon,” he reminds himself. Jack thinks that he is the one the hotel wants, not Danny or Wendy. He is the caretaker and the one who found the scrapbook. He asks Lloyd what the manager wants with Danny. Lloyd smiles and tells Jack not to worry about such things.
As soon as Lloyd mentions Danny, Jack immediately remembers that he is “on the wagon” and shouldn’t be drinking, which again underscores Jack and Danny’s profound connection. Jack said earlier that the hotel didn’t want Danny, but here he contradicts himself. Jack believes that since he has the scrapbook, the hotel wants him specifically, but is ultimately only using Jack to get to Danny.
Themes
Lloyd tells Jack to drink his martini, and all the conversation in the bar suddenly stops. Jack looks around, and everyone in the bar is staring at him. He sees Horace Derwent, and Jack is pretty sure the woman next to him, staring into her Singapore sling, is Mrs. Massey from room 217. Jack demands to see the manger. Danny isn’t part of all this, Jack tells Lloyd. Lloyd tells Jack he will meet the manager when the time is right. For now, Jack should just drink his drink. The people in the bar echo Lloyd’s words.
Since Jack is typically only violent while intoxicated, the hotel needs to get him drunk if he is going to kill Danny. The hotel’s anticipation is reflected in the other bar patrons’ stares—the first drink is crucial, since it’s the one that will throw jack “off the wagon” of his months-long sobriety. If the hotel can get Jack to take the first drink, he will likely continue from there.
Themes
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Jack brings the martini to his lips and drains it. He slides the glass across the bar to Lloyd and orders another. Jack downs that drink as well, and Lloyd immediately makes him another. Jack thinks of Danny and how he hurt Danny in the early days, before Jack could really handle his alcohol. Now, Jack is better. He will never hurt Danny again.
Jack clearly isn’t better, and he can’t handle his alcohol, not even in a hallucination. Jack has had only two drinks, and he is already making excuses. With these two drinks, Jack is well on his way to being completely intoxicated.
Themes
