The Shining Characters

Jack is an extremely sympathetic character. His power as a protagonist lies in his deep desire, and great potential, to be a good person – a good father, a good husband, and a good writer. Ye...

Wendy is a brave, courageous woman whose heroics help save her son, herself, and Dick Halloran. She suffers three broken ribs, a busted upper calf, a scraped ear, a "shattered vertebra" (58.5), and...

In many ways, Danny is every parent's dream. He's intelligent, patient, loving, adventuresome, forgiving, and kind. Everybody who sees him recognizes he's something special, even the gloomy Overloo...

Tony is perceived differently by different people in the novel. Danny sees Tony, at first, as a flesh and blood person. Until the end of the novel, Tony's face is obscured by shadow and distance. D...

Halloran is a big hero. He nearly loses his life, trying to save a family he's only met once. Why? Because he likes Danny and values him as another person who can shine. In addition to saving Danny...

Mark is Jack's abusive, alcoholic father, with whom Jack had a love-hate relationship. Although he's dead, Mark is very much alive in the mind of his son, who's deeply afraid of repeating all his f...

Jack's mother isn't named, and Jack doesn't express love for her. She was regularly abused by Jack's father. When Jack was nine, he watched his father beat her with a cane at the dinner table in fr...

Brett, Becky and Mike and Jack's older siblings, frequent victims of Mark's abuse. Brett is dead, and Mike and Becky don't seem to be in Jack's life.

We don't know much about Wendy's parents, who aren't named in the novel. They are divorced and seem to have had a dysfunctional relationship. Wendy's mother blames Wendy for the divorce, but we are...

Watson is the caretaker of the Overlook during the season. We can't hear the name "Watson" without thinking of the Dr. John Watson, sidekick to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes. We think he...

Al is a puzzling character. His name implies that he's involved with the all things shock related, which makes sense when we see how connected he is with the Overlook. In fact, at the time of Jack'...

Ullman hires Jack as caretaker, even though he knows it will likely result in disaster. He only hires Jack because Al Shockley tells him to. He's not a big player in the story, that we can see, but...

Derwent is a multimillionaire playboy with connections to organized crime, particularly in the gaming industry in Las Vegas Nevada. He owns the Overlook in 1945 when the masked ball goes down, and...

If you've seen Kubrick's film version of The Shining and wondered what the deal is with the creepy guy in the dog suit, look no further for the answer. According to the ghostly woman Jack is dancin...

Mrs. Massey dies in Room 217 during the 1975 season, so she's the hotel's freshest death at the time the Torrances move in. She's the wife of a prominent New York lawyer, but is at the Overlook wit...

Delores Vickery is the "chambermaid" who first sees the ghost of the woman in 217. According to Halloran, she has a slight shine, but isn't a very nice person. She's mostly a plot device to broaden...

Delbert Grady was the first caretaker at the Overlook under Ullman's management, in the winter of 1970-71. Like Jack, he was an alcoholic. Also like Jack, he tries to murder his family – a wi...

George is an ex-student who was on Jack's debate team at Stovington Prep. When George is cut from the team, he retaliates against Jack by slashing his tires. Jack catches him in the act, loses his...