Shining Color Space – Part 7: Fire, The Overlooked Theme

1. Fire related plot points
First, I want to make a list of fire related plot points, as I think this is one of the major themes in The Shining overlooked so far.

• Jack wields a Fire Axe.
• The twins were apparently killed with such a Fire Axe (it even lies there in that scene!).
• Delbert Grady mentions one of his girls trying to set the Overlook on fire:  "My girls, sir, they didn't care for the Overlook at first. One of them actually stole a pack of matches, and tried to burn it down."
• Danny forgot his Fire-Engine Toy in Suite 3, and goes to get it (before the "fatherly talk" from Jack to Danny).

Then there is at least one obscure reference to fire/burning in the film:

• When Danny asks "Is there something bad here?" Hallorann answers: "Well, you know, Doc, when something happens, you can leave a trace of itself behind. Say like, if someone burns toast. Well, maybe things that happen leave other kinds of traces behind. Not things that anyone can notice, but things that people who "shine" can see. Just like they can see things that haven't happened yet. Well, sometimes they can see things that happened a long time ago. I think a lot of things happened right here in this particular hotel over the years. And not all of 'em was good." 

And in King's work there seem to be some references to fire or explosions:

• In the novel, it is a boiler explosion that demolishes the Overlook.
• King (while staying at the Hotel that was the inspiration for the novel) dreamt to have been chased by a fire-hose.
• In the novel, Danny is chased by fire extinguishers.

And as might become clear, they sure do take the fire hazard seriously at the Overlook Hotel.

Stanley Kubrick laughing at the irony, that of all the film sets in the world, it was the set for the Overlook Hotel that burned down. (via)

The Ahwahnee Hotel was build to be fireproof – most that looks to be wood isn't, it is actually either concrete or granite finished to look like wood. (see)


(As with most texts written by me, I release what I have gathered here into the Public Domain. I have drawn from the works of others – may others use my work and improve upon it. If you use it, a shout out would be nice though.
And as with other texts by me, this is unfinished – I may or may not come back and continue working on it.)