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I have recently become aware that Kubrick's The SHiNiNG has a lot in common with Dante's Inferno.
I stumbled upon this after listening to Juli Kearns theory in ROOM 237 about Jack potentially being a stand in for the Minotaur as the film version of The SHiNiNG features a hedge maze or labyrinth not found in Stephen King's novel. This was intriguing because Danny handles Jack very much the same way the Minotaur is handled by getting them both lost in the labyrinth. I did a search on the Minotaur and discovered that he was a man eater, a cannibal or canniBULLBig Grin. That was interesting because there are a few references to cannibalism in the film.
The search also led to the fact that the Minotaur appears in Dante's Inferno as an inhabitant of the 7th circle of Hell reserved for perpetrators of violence. This line is where things started getting interesting.
This image is taken from Room 237. When the film is played forwards and backwards overlapping this image happens.
The remarkable thing about this is that the real blood on the walls from the twins line up with the symbolic blood on the walls of the Red Bathroom. It's odd that the real blood isn't on the walls beyond the border of the Red Bathroom walls. To me that seals it that the Red Bathroom is a symbol for murder and more specifically the twins murder.
With that revelation I started thinking about the Overlook itself an analog for the Inferno(Hell). Jack commits a lot of sins in the film and they take place in specific rooms that could be analogs for the circles of Inferno.
In the Gold Room Jack is gluttonous in his alcohol consumption. The party going on and the name of the room itself implies greed and gluttony.
In Room 237 Jack is lustful.
In the red bathroom murder is planned.
In the Colorado Lounge Jack is slothful. Wendy does the caretaking so jack can focus on his writing but is unproductive and spends time throwing a ball against the wall. Maybe another intentional or unintentional joke is that Jack is slothful in the Lounging area.
Also worth noting that Jack freezing to death and being trapped in a photo for eternity matches the punishment for betrayers of special relationships in the 9th circle whom are frozen in a lake of ice. The ultimate betrayal of father abusing child would land you here with Judas and Satan for company.
I feel like Danny is an analog for Dante, and the Inferno he is given a tour of is that of his father's.
I feel like Hallorahn is an analog of Virgil as Virgil is Dante's guide and protector likewise one could make a point Hallorahn fills those roles to Danny.
What brought this all together was me doing a search for The SHiNiNG and Dante's Inferno to see if these things had been noticed before and what popped up but a line from Dante's Inferno that takes place as Dante and Virgil depart from hell(the Overlook)
I think not as the circles of Inferno that correspond to the number 237 are as follows
Circle 2 is Lust
Circle 3 is Gluttony
Circle 7 is Murder
All of which Jack is guilty of during the film.
I also feel that the ending shot of Jack in the black and white photo date July 4 1921 serves two purposes. The first is that it shows that Jack's soul is frozen in eternity in the photo a symbol for the lake of ice(9th circle). If we didn't see the photo and Kubrick left us with Jack's frozen corpse in the maze I don't think we would have gotten the sense of utter and everlasting finality that the photo gives. The date on the photo and the line where Delbert tells Jack that he has always been the caretaker leads me to believe since Delbert is already dead and thus aware of eternity that he has always known Jack(in Hell).
I also think the July 4th date celebrates Danny and Wendy's escape and hard won independence of Jack, an abusive father and husband.
* New points of interest*
I have made a few more connections that could hint to Dante's Inferno as a thematic element for The SHiNiNG. The opening of the movie is Jack traveling along the mountainside towards The Overlook (Inferno/Hell) while "Dies Irae" (Day of Wrath) is playing. "Dies Irae" (Day of Wrath) is about Judgment Day when everyone get's what's coming to them based off of their deeds and the way they chose to live their lives. This applies because Inferno is punishment for those who commit evil deeds and Jack's punishment landed him in the 9th circle.
Another connection is this excerpt from Wikipedia's Dante's Inferno page.
The mountain is self explanatory as the Overlook is located at the base of a mountain.
The 3 animals that assail Dante and keep him from finding the straight way (or right path) are the Lion (pride), the Leopard (fraudulence), and the She wolf (avirce or greed).
These 3 animals represent the sins that prevent Dante from the right path in much the same way Jack's 3 "spirits" represent the sins that keep him from the right path and eventually over take Jack leading to his physical and spiritual demise.
I stumbled upon this after listening to Juli Kearns theory in ROOM 237 about Jack potentially being a stand in for the Minotaur as the film version of The SHiNiNG features a hedge maze or labyrinth not found in Stephen King's novel. This was intriguing because Danny handles Jack very much the same way the Minotaur is handled by getting them both lost in the labyrinth. I did a search on the Minotaur and discovered that he was a man eater, a cannibal or canniBULLBig Grin. That was interesting because there are a few references to cannibalism in the film.
The search also led to the fact that the Minotaur appears in Dante's Inferno as an inhabitant of the 7th circle of Hell reserved for perpetrators of violence. This line is where things started getting interesting.
A river of blood would describe the hemoglobin spewing elevator and two murderers up to their eyebrows in blood (albeit symbolically) describes the red bathroom scene where red walls are kept in frame at eyelevel with Jack and Delbert. I think the man waiting at the elevator with the boat paddle is a joke concerning the blood river or could possibly be a reference to Charon the ferryman. The fact that the bathroom is used to symbolize the river of blood works because the walls are red and Kubrick keeps the tops of the red even with the eyebrows of Jack and Delbert and the fact that the room is a place where water flows(river). A joke here that could have been unintentional is that they end up in the Red Bathroom (symbolic river of blood) because Delbert spills Jack's drink on him and wants to dry him off in the bathroom which is funny because they are eyebrow deep in symbolic blood so what's a spilt drink or two?
This image is taken from Room 237. When the film is played forwards and backwards overlapping this image happens.
The remarkable thing about this is that the real blood on the walls from the twins line up with the symbolic blood on the walls of the Red Bathroom. It's odd that the real blood isn't on the walls beyond the border of the Red Bathroom walls. To me that seals it that the Red Bathroom is a symbol for murder and more specifically the twins murder.
With that revelation I started thinking about the Overlook itself an analog for the Inferno(Hell). Jack commits a lot of sins in the film and they take place in specific rooms that could be analogs for the circles of Inferno.
In the Gold Room Jack is gluttonous in his alcohol consumption. The party going on and the name of the room itself implies greed and gluttony.
In Room 237 Jack is lustful.
In the red bathroom murder is planned.
In the Colorado Lounge Jack is slothful. Wendy does the caretaking so jack can focus on his writing but is unproductive and spends time throwing a ball against the wall. Maybe another intentional or unintentional joke is that Jack is slothful in the Lounging area.
Also worth noting that Jack freezing to death and being trapped in a photo for eternity matches the punishment for betrayers of special relationships in the 9th circle whom are frozen in a lake of ice. The ultimate betrayal of father abusing child would land you here with Judas and Satan for company.
I feel like Danny is an analog for Dante, and the Inferno he is given a tour of is that of his father's.
I feel like Hallorahn is an analog of Virgil as Virgil is Dante's guide and protector likewise one could make a point Hallorahn fills those roles to Danny.
What brought this all together was me doing a search for The SHiNiNG and Dante's Inferno to see if these things had been noticed before and what popped up but a line from Dante's Inferno that takes place as Dante and Virgil depart from hell(the Overlook)
Coincidence?
I think not as the circles of Inferno that correspond to the number 237 are as follows
Circle 2 is Lust
Circle 3 is Gluttony
Circle 7 is Murder
All of which Jack is guilty of during the film.
I also feel that the ending shot of Jack in the black and white photo date July 4 1921 serves two purposes. The first is that it shows that Jack's soul is frozen in eternity in the photo a symbol for the lake of ice(9th circle). If we didn't see the photo and Kubrick left us with Jack's frozen corpse in the maze I don't think we would have gotten the sense of utter and everlasting finality that the photo gives. The date on the photo and the line where Delbert tells Jack that he has always been the caretaker leads me to believe since Delbert is already dead and thus aware of eternity that he has always known Jack(in Hell).
I also think the July 4th date celebrates Danny and Wendy's escape and hard won independence of Jack, an abusive father and husband.
* New points of interest*
I have made a few more connections that could hint to Dante's Inferno as a thematic element for The SHiNiNG. The opening of the movie is Jack traveling along the mountainside towards The Overlook (Inferno/Hell) while "Dies Irae" (Day of Wrath) is playing. "Dies Irae" (Day of Wrath) is about Judgment Day when everyone get's what's coming to them based off of their deeds and the way they chose to live their lives. This applies because Inferno is punishment for those who commit evil deeds and Jack's punishment landed him in the 9th circle.
Another connection is this excerpt from Wikipedia's Dante's Inferno page.
The mountain is self explanatory as the Overlook is located at the base of a mountain.
The 3 animals that assail Dante and keep him from finding the straight way (or right path) are the Lion (pride), the Leopard (fraudulence), and the She wolf (avirce or greed).
These 3 animals represent the sins that prevent Dante from the right path in much the same way Jack's 3 "spirits" represent the sins that keep him from the right path and eventually over take Jack leading to his physical and spiritual demise.
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