The Shining Character Analysis

Danny Torrance

Jack and Wendy Torrance’s son and the protagonist of The Shining. Danny is just five years old, and he has the ability to read people’s thoughts and emotions. If Danny concentrates really hard… read analysis of Danny Torrance

Jack Torrance

Danny’s father, Wendy’s husband, and the antagonist of The Shining. Jack is an alcoholic with a long history of abuse. His father was a drunk who abused Jack as a child. After… read analysis of Jack Torrance

Wendy Torrance

Jack’s wife and Danny’s mother. Jack and Wendy met in college, and she moved in with him after her mother kicked her out. Wendy has a difficult history with her mother—her mother blames… read analysis of Wendy Torrance

Dick Hallorann

The cook at the Overlook Hotel. Jack, Wendy, and Danny Torrance first meet Hallorann when they arrive at the hotel for the winter. Like Danny, Hallorann can “shine,” or sense people’s thoughts and… read analysis of Dick Hallorann

Tony

Danny’s “imaginary friend.” Tony brings Danny visions that allow Danny to see into the future. With his power to “shine,” Danny concentrates and asks Tony to come to him, and he shows Danny what… read analysis of Tony

Al Shockley

A member of the Board of Directors at the Overlook Hotel and Jack’s former drinking buddy. Al and his associates bought into the hotel in 1970, and Al also sits on the Board of… read analysis of Al Shockley

Grady

The former winter caretaker at the Overlook Hotel during the winter of 1970. Ullman, the hotel manager, hired Grady as the caretaker, although he was hesitant to do so because Grady was an alcoholic… read analysis of Grady

Stuart Ullman

The manager of the Overlook Hotel. Jack thinks that Ullman is an “officious little prick” the first time he meets him, and Ullman indeed admits he is a “bastard.” He takes his job running the… read analysis of Stuart Ullman

Howard Cottrell

A plow truck driver in Colorado. Hallorann loses control of his rental car when he passes Howard Cottrell’s plow on a snowy road on the way to the Overlook Hotel and buries his car in… read analysis of Howard Cottrell

Horace Derwent

A billionaire entrepreneur who bought and renovated the Overlook Hotel after World War II. Derwent throws the masquerade ball on the August night in 1945 that perpetually unfolds in the hotel’s ballroom, and when Jack… read analysis of Horace Derwent

The Ghost of Room 217/Mrs. Massey

A former guest at the Overlook Hotel. Mrs. Massey checked into the hotel with her lover—a young man of about 17—sometime in the early 1970s, and her ghost is in the Colorado Lounge drinking Singapore… read analysis of The Ghost of Room 217/Mrs. Massey

George Hatfield

One of Jack Torrance’s former students at Stovington Prep in Stovington, Vermont. George was on the debate team Jack coached at Stovington, but Jack cut him because he stuttered. After George was cut, Jack… read analysis of George Hatfield

Delores Vickery

A former maid at the Overlook Hotel. According to Hallorann, Delores had a “little shine to her” but didn’t know it. She was a “lazy goof-off” and spent most of her time hiding in… read analysis of Delores Vickery

The Dogman/Roger

A guest at Horace Derwent’s masquerade ball at the Overlook Hotel in 1945. Roger is dressed in a dog costume, and he is very drunk. When Jack begins to go mad and hallucinate, he… read analysis of The Dogman/Roger

Larry Durkin

The proprietor of the gas station in Sidewinder. Hallorann goes to Durkin’s station to rent a snowmobile the night Danny uses the shining to call Hallorann to the Overlook Hotel to save Danny and Wendy… read analysis of Larry Durkin

The Sour-Faced Woman

A woman who sits next to Hallorann on the flight to Denver after Danny calls him back to the Overlook Hotel. The sour-faced woman sits with a stern expression and silently reads a book, talking… read analysis of The Sour-Faced Woman

Watson

The maintenance man at the Overlook Hotel. Watson is the one to show Jack the hotel’s boiler and warn him that “it creeps.” Watson is a crass man, who swears too much and looks at… read analysis of Watson

Dr. Edmonds

The doctor in Sidewinder to whom Wendy and Jack take Danny after they find him nearly catatonic in the bathroom at the Overlook Hotel. Danny tells Dr. Edmonds all about his ability to read people’s… read analysis of Dr. Edmonds

Vittorio Gienelli

The mob boss who is gunned down in the Presidential Suite of the Overlook Hotel in 1966. Gienelli’s bodyguards are murdered as well, and Danny can see their blood and brain matter splattered on the… read analysis of Vittorio Gienelli

Aileen

Wendy’s sister. Aileen was struck by a car and killed when she was six years old and Wendy was 10. Wendy thinks about Aileen in the waiting room at Dr. Edmonds’s office, and… read analysis of Aileen

Minor Characters

Lloyd

The bartender Jack hallucinates in the Colorado Lounge at the Overlook Hotel. As Jack slips further into insanity, Lloyd serves him 20 martinis—all at once—presumably to get Jack drunk so the hotel can more easily convince him to kill Wendy and Danny.

The Shining

Stephen King

The Shining Characters