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Chapter 50
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
Larry Durkin, a man guy with red hair, is just closing his gas station when Hallorann arrives. Durkin isn’t inclined to rent a snowmobile to anyone during a storm as bad as this one, especially a crazy looking man intent on going to the Overlook Hotel. Most of the hotel’s scandals were never in the papers, but the Sidewinder locals know all about them, and Durkin doesn’t like anything to do with the Overlook. However, when Hallorann mentions Howard Cottrell’s name, Durkin changes his tune and listens to Hallorann’s pleas.
The fact that the Overlook Hotel has a bad reputation in Sidewinder is proof of the Overlook’s scandalous history. Ullman may be able to keep unsavory stories about the hotel out of papers, but he can’t stop the locals from gossiping. Again, if not for Howard’s gloves, Larry Durkin likely would have turned Hallorann away without helping him.
Themes
Hallorann tells Larry Durkin that the caretaker’s son is in trouble, and Durkin asks if Hallorann is talking about Jack Torrance’s boy. He is, Hallorann says. Durkin asks what has happened. Durkin has met Danny a few times and always liked him. But Hallorann says he doesn’t know what has happened. He only knows Danny is in trouble, and he asks Durkin again to please rent him a snowmobile so he can be on his way. Durkin agrees, and for $20, he gives Hallorann an Arctic Cat. Durkin takes off his heavy parka and tells Hallorann to give him his jacket. They better trade, or Hallorann is sure to die in his overcoat. Hallorann doesn’t want to put him out, but Durkin insists.
Larry Durkin took a liking to Danny, just like Ullman did, because of Danny’s shine. Wendy says that people are often drawn to Danny, and this indeed proves to be the case throughout the book. Hallorann would almost certainly freeze to death if not for Durkin’s coat and Howard’s gloves, which again hearkens to the isolation of the Overlook. It isn’t just distance and snow that keeps the Torrances captive, but the cold, too.
Themes
Durkin says he hopes Danny is alright, and helps Hallorann push the snowmobile outside. He gives Hallorann, who has never driven a snowmobile, a quick lesson and hands him a ski-mask, telling him to put it on under his helmet. As Hallorann gets ready to leave, Durkin says that Hallorann must know things like Howard does and offers to give him a rifle. Hallorann says it won’t do any good and drives away.
Here, Durkin directly references Howard’s shine. He says that Howard knows things, and Howard assumes that Hallorann must shine, too—otherwise, there would be no way for Hallorann to know the things he does.
Themes
Hallorann has never liked the Overlook, but he has never been this afraid of going to it. The message of images he received earlier is trying again to enter his thoughts, but Hallorann has been able to block it out. As he gets closer to the hotel, the message grows stronger, and he is having a harder time keeping it out. He can see a badly injured woman cowering in a bathroom. Hallorann suddenly loses sight of the guardrails and is moving toward the mountain’s edge. He yanks the handlebars and recovers, driving along in a constant state of fear. Sometime later, Hallorann sees light, and the Overlook comes into view.
Hallorann’s fear again underscores the Overlook’s power to induce terror, even across a great distance. The woman whom Hallorann sees cowering in the bathroom in the vision is likely Wendy trying to hide from Jack after he nearly killed her on the stairs. The hotel seems to be showing Hallorann images of a beaten and broken Wendy, hoping they will be enough to keep Hallorann away.
Themes
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Hallorann approaches the hotel and realizes with terror that one of the hedge lions is guarding the front. He screams and jerks the snowmobile as the lion reaches out with a giant paw and claws at his face and neck, ripping the ski-mask. He is thrown from the snowmobile and feels the lion run after him. He lands in snow, and when he stops rolling, the lion is on top of him, batting him around. Badly bleeding, and with the lion batting at his back and head, Hallorann crawls in the direction of the snowmobile.
The hedge lion is again a terrifying presence, and it seems intent on killing Hallorann, which further underscores the Overlook’s power to induce fear. Had Hallorann not been wearing the ski mask, it is likely that the lion’s swat would have been much worse and caused much more damage.
Themes
