The Shining by
Stephen King is one of the best horror stories ever written by him. The book is
riveting because of the fact that it involves a child as a lead character who
can see and feel the unusual things around him but generally is not aware of
this supernatural power.
In this novel,
Danny Torrence is one such boy with some amazing brilliance. He can typically
read and feel the minds of adults like his parents and their thoughts of
suicide and divorce subsequently. Ironically, he assumes this feeling is a mist
of the mind until he meets Dick Halloran of the Overtook Hotel. Dick Halloran
says that he shines on, means he is extraordinary.
Jack Torrence
is the father of Danny. His father is a writer but keeps himself drowned in the
realms of alcohol. Jack gets the job in the Overtook Hotel which remains closed
in winter due to heavy snow-like adverse conditions. The jobs seems perfect for
him, since Jack has really a difficult task of coping up with his dull and
broken past, so he wants to patch up the things once again for his family by
spending more time with the family.
Well, he is
not aware of the fact that the hotel subsists on the evils committed in its
premises. The hotel has a dark and negative shadow during winter when it
remains closed. It is astonishing to note that in this novel instead of a human
or animal or ghostly spirit it is the hotel (an object) that works as an
antagonist. Well, the hotel too has a spirit of its own.
The hotel
wants Jack to turn vile and hostile against his family so as he can commit
crime against them to feed the malign intentions of the hotel. Parallel to the
transformation of Jack into negative shadow, Danny’s capabilities begin growing.
He knows the fears hidden inside him; he rather takes them openly, in a
challenging way. It is sad to express that the family meets a tragic fate in
the end. All of Danny’s hope and aspirations of becoming a good, successful man
go in vain that he thought of himself.
Obviously, it’s
a different kind of horror story. The growing of fear, suspension and evil
intentions has been put in the most riveting way. A terrific story with
immaculate plot! It is an amazing piece from the master story teller of this
genre.
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