‘The Shining’ by Steven King
When I saw The Shining on our reading list for this course, I was really excited. But when I finished reading the book, I had so many thoughts and notes that I didn’t know where to begin. So I pulled out the trusty old Master of Fine Arts in Writing Popular Fiction Manual 2010 and there, in Appendix C, I spotted what I think is a key issue with this book: “Is the protagonist likeable, admirable, realistic? Can readers identify with this protagonist?”
Let me just get one thing out of the way here: I adore Jack Torrance, but only because he is Jack Nicholson. So maybe I just adore Jack Nicholson, who took the character of Jack Torrance and turned him into a pop culture icon.
I saw the movie before reading the book. In fact, I don’t think I ever read the book before now. But reading the book clarified some issues I had with the movie. As much as I loved Nicholson and some of the unforgettable scenes in the movie, I never really enjoyed watching much of it because I didn’t like Jack and Wendy (until Jack went crazy. Then he was awesome.) I always felt Jack’s dialogue, in the early scenes, was sneering and fake. Wendy’s lines always seemed artificially light and cheerful. And Shelley Duvall is probably a wonderful person and I hate to say this, but I just never got that casting.
Now that I’ve read the book, I see that Nicholson’s delivery of his lines was spot-on. Jack Torrance was sneering and insincere. Even though I didn’t love the movie version of Wendy, Duvall perfectly captured the tone of the book, such as in the passage in chapter 20 (3849 in Kindle) from Jack’s POV: … “At times she could be the stupidest bitch … ‘Want some water?’ she asked brightly. (No I just want you to GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE!)”
However, Wendy, in the book, was a much richer character. We had the opportunity to see some of her history, the reasons for the decisions she made. She was also blond and attractive in the book version. In fact, almost everyone in the book seemed to be blond, including Jack. But Jack Torrance will always be Jack Nicholson in my book.
Now, back to my key point: We as writers are always being told that we are supposed to make our protagonists likeable and engaging so the reader will want to stick with them to the end of the story. Does anybody like Jack Torrance? Can you? Right from the beginning of the story, when he supposedly is trying to hold his life together, he is sneering, derisive, fake. We know he has a temper, even if in the beginning he is trying to get past it. You can’t really blame somebody for alcoholism, but he is abusive. Even learning he was a victim of his father’s abuse, I felt no sympathy for the character. Then he turns into a flat-out monster.
So, I’m not a horror writer and not much of a horror reader, either. I’m wondering if the rule of likeable protagonists is typically broken in this genre, because it seems like it would be a tough thing to pull off — “Jaws” from the POV of the shark.
By the way, in case anybody hasn’t heard this, Steven King announced last month that he’s finishing up the manuscript for the sequel, called Dr. Sleep. Stephan Lee at EW.com posted on Sept. 27 that the sequel “follows a grownup Danny Torrance, a hospice worker who helps patients die painlessly. He comes into contact with a clan of roving, psychic vampires called The Tribe.” Click here to see the video Lee posted of King reading an excerpt.
Also, The Shining will air at 10 p.m. Saturday and 7 a.m. Sunday on AMC. Don’t you love October?
Genre Readings 
Although I personally have sympathy for Jack Torrance, I can definitely see why he’d be termed an unlikable protaganist, and you provide good snippets of this in your post.
I also think you provide a very valid point about how the media can color your perspective when you read! You saw Kubrick’s Shining before reading; I saw the ABC miniseries (looong time ago) before reading the book or seeing the Kubrick film. In the ABC miniseries, they do try to show Jack breaking down, regretting his actions, and feeling like he’s an awful person…before he goes stark raving. This probably helped my reading of the book–the sympathy I had for Steven Weber’s Jack Torrance carried over, and I could hear tears in the dialogue (even if there wasn’t any intended to be there).
If I read this book again I’ll have to try and stick Nicholson in my mind…I wonder how the dialogue and narrative will change for me! 🙂
And thanks for the video snippet. Yeah!
I’m with you on the whole idea that Jack Nicholson will forever be Jack Torrance. Up until now I have only watched the film version, never read the book. And, like you, I adore Jack Torrance, but unlike you, I felt for him in the book. I get what you’re saying that he is this rude man from the start – and seriously, right from the very start of the book. I think that providing his background info. throughout the book, though, I felt for him. When you got those little bits about his father and family – I felt bad for him. I guess it goes back to the old saying, we learn what we live? Anyway, great post!
It’s ridiculous, but one of my biggest discrepancies with the film and the book was Wendy. Her casting seemed “wrong.” I don’t know how many times I said, “she’s blond!…she’s blond?” I digress…
I can only imagine Jack Nicholson as Jack Torrance. I tried and tried not to, but to no avail. And so what? He brought Jack Torrance to KING status and, although I agree that the book delved into each character’s histories more than the film, Jack Nicholson conveyed Torrance’s history with the slightest raise of an eyebrow. Now that’s good stuff…,”Lloyd, how about the hair of the dog that bit me!” Love it. Why is Jack Torrance so horrible you love him? I can’t say for sure. There’s so many ways to break his character apart. But, I’m a fan of Jack. I often wonder how I would have felt if he did end up killing everyone except Danny…would I still like him? Maybe King was aware of this.
There are few iconic villains that we root for. Some think Freddy Krueger has that affect. He’s just funny! And I mentioned Hannibal Lector in my response to you on my blog. That’s a good one too. There’s just a piece of me that wants to act like Jack. I want to just be LEFT ALONE! I want to say whatever the hell I want to whomever and I want to be so damn smart that no one could come back with anything better :-). If Jack fell into oblivion without the Overlook, I feel confident saying I would not like him. I would hate him. Without the ghosts, he’s just bitter and mean and sad. But, WITH the Overlook, he’s being controlled. He can’t really be held accountable for his actions making him a sympathetic character.
I really enjoyed your post! Long live Jack Torrance!…Or maybe Danny Torrance instead.