6. The Shining and The Catcher in the Rye
Adventures in Stanley Kubrick's "The Shining."
Kubrick, Salinger, and the Loss of Innocence: The Shining as an Allegory of Humanity’s Fall
Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining is a work of psychological horror steeped in allegory, historical allusions, and layered symbolism. When Wendy Torrance is seen reading J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye while sitting with Danny at their kitchen table, Kubrick invites the audience to consider the thematic parallels between his film and Salinger’s work. This subtle choice of prop underscores the film’s exploration of innocence, trauma, and the human capacity for destruction. Salinger’s personal history, his misanthropy, and the cultural implications of The Catcher in the Rye amplify the themes of The Shining, linking the Torrance family’s descent into chaos with the loss of innocence and the cyclical nature of human violence.
Salinger’s Dual Identity and the Conflict Within
J.D. Salinger, like the Torrance family, exists in a state of duality, embodying both victim and perpetrator within the larger narrative of 20th-century history. Born to a Jewish father and a mother who converted to Judaism, Salinger represents the intersection of the oppressed and the privileged. This duality mirrors the thematic tension in The Shining, where characters and spaces often embody opposing forces: the Overlook Hotel is both opulent and decayed, Jack Torrance is both protector and predator, and the Torrance family is both victim and agent of destruction.
Salinger’s experiences during World War II, particularly his participation in the liberation of the Dachau concentration camp, left him profoundly disillusioned with humanity. His misanthropy, evident in The Catcher in the Rye, resonates with the growing alienation and madness that overtakes Jack Torrance. Kubrick’s decision to include Salinger’s novel in this scene aligns the Torrance family’s domestic fragility with Salinger’s disillusionment, suggesting that the domestic sphere, like the broader world, is not immune to the forces of violence and despair.
The Catcher in the Rye: Innocence and Its Illusions
The title of The Catcher in the Rye is inspired by Robert Burns’s poem “Comin’ Thro’ the Rye,” which carries a subtext of sexual awakening and the loss of innocence. In the novel, Holden Caulfield misinterprets the poem’s meaning, envisioning himself as a guardian who catches children before they fall off a metaphorical cliff, preserving their innocence and shielding them from the corruptions of adulthood. However, as Kubrick’s inclusion of the novel implies, innocence is not only fragile but also an illusion. No child—or human being—is truly free from the darker impulses of human nature.
This theme is central to The Shining. Danny Torrance, though ostensibly innocent, is imbued with "the shining," a psychic gift that exposes him to the malevolent forces at the Overlook Hotel. His visions, including the infamous rivers of blood and the Grady twins, shatter any notion of childhood as a sanctuary from horror. Danny’s psychic abilities make him uniquely equipped to navigate the Overlook’s dangers, but they also mark him as a witness to humanity’s sins, much like Holden’s jaded perspective on the adult world.
The novel’s invocation of the Fall of Man aligns with The Shining’s broader themes of historical and moral decay. The Overlook Hotel, built on Native American burial grounds and haunted by the ghosts of past atrocities, becomes a symbol of humanity’s fall from grace. Jack Torrance’s descent into madness and violence represents not only his personal failure but also the failure of humanity to overcome its baser instincts.
Salinger, Violence, and Cultural Paranoia
Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye has become inextricably linked with violence due to its association with high-profile assassinations. Mark David Chapman, who murdered John Lennon, and John Hinckley Jr., who attempted to assassinate President Ronald Reagan, were both reportedly inspired by the novel. This cultural phenomenon underscores the fragility of the boundary between art and action, innocence and violence—a theme that also permeates The Shining.
The Overlook Hotel, much like Salinger’s novel, becomes a trigger for violence. Its supernatural forces manipulate Jack Torrance into repeating the cycles of brutality that define the hotel’s history, much as The Catcher in the Rye is said to have inspired individuals to act out their darkest impulses. This parallel highlights the dangerous potential of human susceptibility to external influences, whether they be literary, supernatural, or societal.
Domesticity and Its Discontents
The scene of Wendy reading The Catcher in the Rye while Danny eats a peanut butter sandwich offers a fleeting image of domestic normalcy. However, this veneer is quickly undermined by the novel’s thematic resonance and the foreboding tone of the film. The Torrance family’s domestic life is fragile, built on the unsteady foundation of Jack’s unresolved anger and alcoholism. Just as Holden Caulfield struggles to reconcile his yearning for innocence with the realities of a corrupt world, the Torrance family struggles to maintain stability in the face of the Overlook’s corrupting influence.
The novel’s presence also underscores the failure of idealized roles. Wendy, reading a book about disillusionment and lost innocence, seems oblivious to the fragility of her family’s circumstances. Jack, meanwhile, fails to fulfill his role as protector and provider, instead embodying the archetype of betrayal. The scene foreshadows the unraveling of these roles as the family succumbs to the Overlook’s malevolent forces.
The Fall of Man and the Cyclical Nature of Violence
Kubrick’s inclusion of The Catcher in the Rye ties directly to the film’s overarching themes of historical and moral decay. The Overlook Hotel, with its ghosts of past atrocities, symbolizes the cyclical nature of violence and humanity’s inability to break free from its destructive patterns. Similarly, the Fall of Man, evoked in both Salinger’s novel and The Shining, reflects the inherent flaws in human nature that doom individuals and societies to repeat their sins.
Jack Torrance’s transformation into a murderous figure echoes the archetypal fall from grace, as he succumbs to the Overlook’s temptations and his own latent violence. Danny, much like Holden Caulfield, becomes a reluctant witness to this fall, navigating a world where innocence is impossible to preserve. Wendy, though a survivor, is ultimately unable to shield her son from the traumas inflicted by Jack and the Overlook.
Conclusion
By including J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye, Stanley Kubrick weaves an additional layer of allegory into The Shining, connecting the Torrance family’s descent into madness with broader themes of innocence, trauma, and human frailty. Salinger’s personal history, his misanthropy, and his novel’s cultural significance deepen the film’s exploration of humanity’s moral failures and cyclical violence. The Overlook Hotel becomes a space where the illusions of innocence and domesticity are stripped away, revealing the darker truths of human nature. Just as Holden Caulfield grapples with the impossibility of preserving innocence, the Torrance family is forced to confront the inevitability of their own fall, reflecting the broader tragedy of the human condition.