Symbolism? Overlook or rage?

I feel like i might be stretching, but I really want to believe that there is some sort of symbolism in the way that the book ended. I'm not sure how deeply i want to take this, because of King's relatively point blank style of writing. I wouldn't call it something as harsh as shallow, but I can't see him making a big commentary on the way of the world. Anyways, I'll start off with the biggest and most grandiose possibility. In the ending, I think that King may have been hinting at some sort of commentary on the way of man to follow false idols and leaders. The way that Jack gets taken over and forced ALMOST to kill his son rings a little to the tune of a religious metaphor to christianity specifically, with a, "abraham killing Isaac" kinda deal. I'll say again that I think that one was a stretch, but I'm just throwing out some examples here. Another, less dramatic symbol could be the boiler and ultimate destruction of the overlook as Jack's rage/drinking, but that one as well I think is flawed, because King already illustrated that so beautifully in the awesome wasp's nest thing. Please in the comments say if you see anything like this, because a lot of ideas pop into my head with a book like this, but I'd really like to hear you guys.

Actually, i want to talk about one last, completely unrelated thing. I was just thinking about my original blog post about jack's rage in connection with the wasp's nest. Personally, i don't think that Jack's craziness was his rage and his problem. I think that it was the overlook. Also, i still don't think that Jack's fits of rage were him either. So, where I'm going with this is that the wasps attacked Jack earlier when he was fixing the roof. Then they went away, and finally they attacked Danny and were killed. The attacking Danny was obviously Jack trying to kill him (Which i think was completely the overlook taking him over). Therefore, I think that the wasps when they stung him on the roof was his hitting the student. If the wasps symbolize the overlook's influence when they sting Danny, they have to symbolize that when they sting Jack, indicating that when he attacked Jack, it was not his rage or his fault, but it was the overlook extending its influence to jack to bring him there. BOOM. That might be really hard to follow, so if you don't get it, I'll try and explain it to you next class.

I want to talk about the ending...shocking: ) so we did it guys, we finished the Shining with 4 days to spare.

Just before the boiler explodes, Jack and Danny share an incredibly vital moment to the end of the story. As Jack is terrorizing what's left of his normal life, Danny notices that he is no longer the father he knew, and says to him "you are no longer my daddy." It is clear as ever to see how much these words could have an impact on any family man, but what is it (in your guys opinion) that made it possible for the real Jack to become present again just long enough to notice his son, and see that he is in complete danger, and for two seconds tell him that he loves him and warn him to run away. Not long after, Jack is possessed by the hotel again. But interesting enough, he harms his own face, and then runs to try and relieve the pressure of the boiler. I guess what I am trying to ask is, do you think the book ended with Jack being completely possesed and taken over by the Overlook? Despite his effort of saving the hotel and harming his face to prevent Danny from seeing what he had now become, was it the real Jack who died with the Overlook, or the Jack that the Overlook took over and possessed?

Jack's resistance to the Overlook's influence

Hey everyone, I'd like to talk about Jack's character, and as he descends into the madness that is the killer we see later in the story, the amount of resistance to the hotel that the sliver of Jack's real character shows. Do you think that there is a portion of Jack that wants to keep Danny safe? When Jack attends the ballroom party, his narration shows some dislike of the Hotel's authority when he talks to Lloyd about "the manager" (around page 365 in my book). I noticed a parallel; Jack's resilience when talking to Ullman about accepting the task of becoming caretaker, and that when he talks to Lloyd about accepting the task of murdering his family. This may hint towards a significant portion of his psyche strongly objecting the turning against his family. Another strong suggestion is when Grady is explaining the importance of "correcting" Danny and Wendy, and Jack yells out "I said I'll handle him", in a manner King described as sudden and enraged. This can mean that Jack, deep down, rejects the Overlook's demands, but instead of being forthright must indirectly object by becoming frustrated with complying to Grady. What do you think?

Wendy

I'm curious as to what you guys think about Wendy and what she has to offer to the plot. She shares an interesting contrast with Jack and seems to be a gauge for his insanity. Stephen King uses her to express point blank themes or events, because Danny and Jack are both going through something, so they can't be used as a blank canvas. She is also a very useful tool when it comes to exhibiting the shining with Danny because she's the only sane person in the family. Overall, I feel as if she's only in the story because she can be used to further evolve Danny and Jack as characters. She is the "universal" solvent within the story and keeps it moving. She "breaks" everything down, and makes it a bit easier to understand.What do you guys think?

Tony

As I have no real prior knowledge of the Shining and am only on Chapter 24, I would like to talk about Tony. Tony, who seems to be some sort of ghost, or imaginary friend of Danny's comes and visits him from time to time. In Chapter 23 Danny confesses to his mother that he has "The Shining", the ability to read people's minds. His mother asks him, then, to ask Tony to tell them if they're safe at The Overlook. He  responds on the verge of tears, saying that Tony didn't come that morning when Danny had asked. Is Tony not "allowed" in the Overlook because of the spirits? What do you guys think?

Jack's temper/fate

Basically, I want to talk about when Jack broke Danny’s arm, and whether or not you think that his rage was a part of his relationship with the hotel, of just a character trait. I mean, without it, he would never have been fired and never encountered the hotel. When the kid slashed Jack's tires, he went into a rage, and could not control himself, which says to me it was an outside force directing it. The other side of the coin is whether you think Jack needed to be the caretaker, or whether any caretaker would take the same actions. (I'm kinda trying to skate around spoilers for those who have not seen the movie) I guess what is at the core of my question is whether you think that his whole life’s path is directed toard the hotel or not.

The Schedule

Reading Schedule- 3 chapters per night

2/10/12 Chapters 8-11

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2/18/12 Chapters 32-35

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2/21/12 Chapters 42-45

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2/23/12 Chapters 48-52

2/24/12 Chapters 52-55

2/25/12 Chapters 55-58.

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