Daniel doc anthony torrance is a fictional character that first appears in the 1977 novel the shining by stephen king as a child with psychic powers called the shining. The book is dark and the movie captures the required essence, but the book gets deeper into jacks mind which is not a fun place. The setting and characters are influenced by kings personal experiences, including both his visit to the. Set in the idyllic colorado mountain, the torrance family faces unspeakable dreadfulness while the patriarch, jack, is the winter caretaker at the overlook hotel in colorado. Based on the stephen king novel with a screenplay by director stanley kubrick and diane johnson, torrance as played by jack nicholson is the protagonist in this story of a writer gone awry.
Jack is an exalcoholic who gets a job as winter caretaker for the heavily pristine overlook hotel, one of the greatest american hotels in the last century. The monster, jack torrence, is an example of the standard american male who provides for. Overall, i think the both the book and the movie are worthwhile for their own sake. Jack torrance s new job at the overlook hotel is the perfect chance for a fresh start. Jack and danny torrance both have the shining in kubricks film couldnt find this elsewhere, so i just wanted to solicit some conversation. As the belligerent alcoholic and possibly possessed father in the shining, jack nicholson was truly frightening. In the authors note for doctor sleep, stephen kings recently released sequel to his 1977 novel the shining, king notes, the man who wrote doctor sleep is very different from the wellmeaning alcoholic who wrote the shining. Stanley kubricks the shining is regarded by many as one of the greatest films ever made, and one that to this day continues to be the subject of many analyses and discussions. The shining is the story of jack torrance, who is employed as the caretaker of the gargantuan overlook hotel in colorado one winter. Over the last few weeks ive noticed a great deal of criticism surrounding the character of wendy torrance in the big screen version of the shining 1980. Of course jack nicholson was the wrong choice to play jack torrance in stephen kings the shining.
He was a writer and a recovering alcoholic who lived with his wife wendy. The character also appears in the 1980 film adaptation the shining and was played by danny lloyd. Before doctor sleep, there was the shining, a classic of modern american horror from the undisputed master, stephen king. As the offseason caretaker at the atmospheric old hotel, hell have plenty of time to spend reconnecting with his family and working on his writing. This is my final analysis of jacks descent into madness according to mental illness and other psychological conditions discussed in class. Struggling writer jack torrance jack nicholson signs on for a winter caretaking. After closing day in october, jack moves there with his wife wendy and son danny to watch over. Jack torrance character the story take place in colorado and begins with jack torrance, going to a place by the name of the overlook hotel to be the caretaker over the winter months, because of coast of keeping a twentyfive mile road, in which it take to.
John daniel edward jack torrance is the main protagonistantagonist in the novel the shining, the 1980 film adaptation by stanley kubrick, and the 1997. The interview goes pretty well except jack finds out that one of the last guys to hold his job at the hotel went nuts and murdered his family. Because of the incident with his dad, breaking dannys arm, and his beating of george hetfield, jack is often angry. Jack heads up to the overlook hotel for his first job interview with stuart ullman. The book, the shining, is a literary masterpiece written by stephen king. The shining jack torrance axe trick or treat studios. Finally, after more than 40 years, the writer jack torrance finds a publisher who wants to bring to the public his. Book overview the overlook hotel claimed the most beautiful physical setting on any resort in the world. The story of this film is based off the book, the shining by stephen king. Jack of all trades, master of none, the line is a reference to the kipling poem that suggests that europeans are the caretakers of the world. The only defining attributes that are touched on in the novel is jacks longer hair, and. I just watched an interesting and compelling youtube video concerning this very question not yesterday.
The shining, by stephan king, is a novel about an aspiring writer who becomes caretaker of the overlook hotel for the winter. Jack torrances new job at the overlook hotel is the perfect chance for a fresh start. Plus, i could only read it during the day after i read the hedge animal scene. The descent in to madness comparing jack torrance in. The shining overlook hotel formal tie, men neckties suit accessories.
The shining jack torrance tries to chop through a door. I found myself totally forgetting jack nicholass character and jack torrance became his own person to me. The main character jack torrance is a violent, recovering alcoholic who has broken his son, dannys arm while drunk before. Trick or treat studios and warner brothers are proud to present the shining jack torrance axe.
The shining is a gothic horror novel by stephen king, first published in 1977. A novelist jack torrance takes a job interview as winter caretaker of the isolated, old, huge and beautiful overlook hotel. Jack torrance is an exschoolteacher and sometime writer. Jacks addiction to alcohol is results in irritability, poor judgment, and heightened temper. In the shining, the three main characters are a family, known as the torrances. Stephen king fan publishes shinings jack torrances novel books. A stephen king fan has published an 80page version of the book which novelist jack torrance, played by jack nicholson, obsessively writes during kings the shining. As the film develops, it becomes more mysterious, ambiguous, threatening, and hallucinatory. Why did jack torrence go crazy in the shining this question is kind of creeping me out at the moment. As a fan of both the stephen king book and the stanley kubrickdirected film, im perplexed by the suggestion that wendy shelley duvall is a weak character and made a number of dumb decisions throughout her ordeal with her possessed. Regardless of his weapon of choice, when jack torrance had all work and no play, he was a very bad boy indeed. All orders are custom made and most ship worldwide within 24 hours.
Jonathan johnny daniel edward jack torrance is the main antagonist of stephen kings 1977 horror novel the shining as well as its 1980 film adaptation by stanley kubrick and the 1997 tv miniseries adaptation. His parents are father jack torrance and mother wendy torrance. If jack can write a book about the overlooks hidden secrets, he can be a successful novelist. The american film institute rated the character as played by nicholson the 25th. John daniel edward jack torrance was the protagonist and antagonist in the stephen king novel the shining, the 1980 film adaptation by stanley kubrick, the 1997 miniseries by mick garris, and the 2016 opera by the minnesota opera company. Movie, hell be taking a critical look at movie adaptations of horror novels. The shining is commonly known as stephen kings masterpiece of supernatural horror. Why did jack torrence go crazy in the shining quora. The shining is a horror novel by american author stephen king. At the end of the shining, why is jack in the photo of. Kathie lee, tom hanks, sean connery, burt reynolds snl duration.
The shining centers on the life of jack torrance, an aspiring writer and recovering alcoholic who accepts a position as the offseason caretaker of the historic overlook hotel in the colorado rockies. He is also the posthumous overarching antagonist of the 20 sequel doctor sleep and its 2019 film adaptation. The descent in to madness comparing jack torrance in the shining movie to the book posted on february 5, 2014 by gabriellapasserello leave a comment the events in the book are set over a few months, whereas in the movie, theyre set over just a few days. Faustus, jack doesnt consciously trade his soul, because he doesnt even know the devil is a part of it. Terrible things happen in the world, and theyre things no one can explain. The last novel of jack torrance scott bowles, dan brochstein on. Jack torrance is an aspiring writer who is attempting to rebuild his marriage and career, both of which have been nearly ruined by two traits inherited from his late father. Not least because you will never work out what it means. Published in 1977, it is kings third published novel and first hardback bestseller. In the movie jack gives danny an empty bee hive as a present, which end up full of bees when it was supposed to be empty. While stanley kubricks the shining easily stands out among the bestever interpretations of stephen king novels, it also ranks high in a more significant class its one of the master directors most entertaining efforts, and by far his most conventionally chilling. An analysis of jacks descent into madness in the shining march 29, 20.
Stanley kubricks the shining was released in 1980, and since has been hailed as one of the greatest horror movies ever made. He is also an alcoholic, but jack has managed to get his drinking under control. Jack torrance is actually the hero of the book the shining. The shining by stanley kubrick jack nicholson, shelley. John daniel edward torrance is the main character of stephen kings horror novel the shining 1977. Character profile for jack torrance from the shining page 1. His family accompanies him on this job, including his young son danny torrance, who possesses the shining, an array of psychic abilities that allow danny to see the hotels horrific past. At first, it feels like a traditional horror setup a guy gets hired to spend the winter in an enormous hotel, secluded from civilization, where obviously something will go very wrong. Eclipsed perhaps only by its 1980 film adaptation, the novel is.
He was portrayed by jack nicholson in the novels 1980 film adaptation, by steven weber in the 1997 miniseries, by brian mulligan in the 2016 opera and by henry thomas in the 2019 film adaptation of doctor sleep. John daniel edward jack torrance was the protagonist and antagonist in the stephen king novel the shining, the 1980 film adaptation by stanley kubrick, the. Get an answer for in the shining, jack torrances character becomes the hired caretaker of the overlook hotel, a fictional haunted hotel set in colorado. It happens that danny, has a mysterious power known as the shining. Home entertainment the shining is perfect quarantine viewing. The character also appears in the 1997 tv miniseries the. Note this was also used for the remake 2007 shining movie, where instead of a bee hive its a different insect nest which fills up that night when it was suppose to be empty. The movie, the shining, is a cinematic masterpiece directed by stanley kubrick. The shining sees jack torrance take a job as a caretaker at the overlook hotel whilst its offseason, intending to use downtime to write. During one occasion while drinking, jack dislocated his sons arm. The clenched fist of jack torrance indepth analysis of. Was john daniel edward torrance really the hero of the shining or is his shining portrayal really just the product of his own mental illness.
Kubricks films run rampant with easily overlooked peculiarities and this is another one of them go to table of contents of the analysis which has also a statement on purpose and manner of analysis and a disclaimer as to caveat emptor and my knowing anything authoritatively, which i do not, but i do try to. He was portrayed by jack nicholson in the novels 1980. But this is also jack making a reference to alcoholism as the hidden price paid by the middle class for the cost of industrialization and the benefits of the technological society. Jack torrance x reader oneshots by sharkthehorroraddict shark with 3,559 r. Stanley kubricks adaptation of stephen kings the shining expands upon the theme of man as monster. It was stephen kings third published novel and the central characters are jack and wendy torrance and their young son, danny. In the shining, jack torrances character becomes the. Differences between the shining book vs movie page 2.
This axe is an exact replica of the actual screen used axe used by jack nicholson as jack torrance in the stanley kubrick classic, the shining. The movie the shining, directed by the great stanley kubrick and starring the terrifying jack nicholson, is very different from the stephen. Stephen king fan publishes shinings jack torrances novel. Kubrick deliberately left many things unexplained, including many details from the third act he did, however, explain why jack torrance appears in the photo at the end.
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