Essay Questions

Why does Jack want to relocate his family to the Overlook Hotel?

The Overlook Hotel is quite isolated. In the summer it is a buzzing resort in the country but in the winter it is virtually cut off from the outside world. Jack is drawn to this situation because he has anger issues and feels that being away from people would allow him to decompress and re-calibrate his emotions. He recently worked as a schoolteacher but was fired after physically assaulting a student. Unable to work in his desired field, one of the few jobs open to him is winter manager at the Overlook Hotel. Needing to boost his finances, he takes it.

Jack is also a writer with a severe case of writers' block. He is hoping that a change of scenery and some solitude will help his creative juices to flow again. He is struggling with not being able to express himself and the Overlook seems like the perfect place to address this. He also feels that the time with his family will be beneficial. He wants to be a good father and role model for Danny, but has fallen short so far. A change of direction is, he believes, a step in the right direction.

The malevolent spirit of the Overlook Hotel seems to have a modus operandi when it comes to possessing its victims. How does it accomplish its evil intentions?

The Hotel creates an atmosphere that is malevolent and designed to give its intended victims a bad case of cabin fever. This is basically a mental affliction that people suffer from when they are confined from the outside world and unable to go outside of away from the location. Because of the weather, because of the fact that the hotel is extremely isolated, and there is no connection with the outside world, Jack comes down with a bad case of cabin fever. This is also how the previous winter manager, Delbert Grady, began to be broken down before he was possessed.

The Hotel also preys upon those known to have a weakness. In Jack's case, since Jack is a recovering alcoholic, the Hotel uses alcohol to change his behavior again and weaken his resolve. When Jack arrives at the Overlook, the hotel bar is empty because is out of season, yet later when he seeks refuge in the bar after an argument with Karen, the bar is stocked with liquor, which tempts him into slipping back into his old ways and breaking his sobriety.

The Hotel also uses the ghosts of those previously possessed and driven insane to their deaths in the act of possessing a new victim. Downstairs in the bar, Jack sees a group of ghosts at a party and is told by Delbert Grady in ghostly form that he should kill Wendy and Danny, mimicking what Grady had done himself.