Through the use of both passive and violent diction, as well as simile, Stephen King’s “The Shining” depicts how the concept of control affects both Jack and Wendy to conform to traditional gender roles, where the male is more aggressive and in charge of caring for his family, and the female is more passive and accepting of the conditions around her.
Through the use of violent diction, King identifies how Jack deals with not being in control.
When Al tells Jack that he is forbid to write a book on the Overlook, King depicts Jack by saying “His head was throbbing with the hot, acid etched words he wanted to get out” (King 276).
Before thinking of some form of solution and maintaining a leveled head, Jack immediately becomes filled with …show more content…
When Wendy’s son, Danny, requests to remain at the overlook with his father, King captures Wendy’s passive response by writing “‘All right,’ she said softly. ‘All right, that’s what we’ll do... We’ll stay. And everything will be fine. Just fine’” (King 298).
King emphasizes Wendy’s uneasiness of staying at the hotel through the phrase “all right”. The repetition of this phrase not only solidifies her uneasiness, but also represents Wendy’s hopes of being “all right” at the Overlook. In addition, when King writes Wendy saying that “everything will be fine” he employs epistrophe to emphasize that Wendy is attempting to reassure herself that in the end, things will turn out fine. However, the second repetition of this phrase adds the word “just”, which is a word used to mean “barely” and “no more than”. Wendy states her worries and discomforts about residing in the Overlook, but since she has no control over her family’s situation, she passively hopes that they can make it through the winter. She hopes for the best, as she has no power over the outcome of her situation. King describes her response as “soft”, which creates a warm and gentle feeling commonly associated with maternal figures. Conversely to Jack, Wendy remains passive and is not angered by her lack of control. She understands that she has no control over this situation, and accepts
Through the use of violent diction, King identifies how Jack deals with not being in control.
When Al tells Jack that he is forbid to write a book on the Overlook, King depicts Jack by saying “His head was throbbing with the hot, acid etched words he wanted to get out” (King 276).
Before thinking of some form of solution and maintaining a leveled head, Jack immediately becomes filled with …show more content…
When Wendy’s son, Danny, requests to remain at the overlook with his father, King captures Wendy’s passive response by writing “‘All right,’ she said softly. ‘All right, that’s what we’ll do... We’ll stay. And everything will be fine. Just fine’” (King 298).
King emphasizes Wendy’s uneasiness of staying at the hotel through the phrase “all right”. The repetition of this phrase not only solidifies her uneasiness, but also represents Wendy’s hopes of being “all right” at the Overlook. In addition, when King writes Wendy saying that “everything will be fine” he employs epistrophe to emphasize that Wendy is attempting to reassure herself that in the end, things will turn out fine. However, the second repetition of this phrase adds the word “just”, which is a word used to mean “barely” and “no more than”. Wendy states her worries and discomforts about residing in the Overlook, but since she has no control over her family’s situation, she passively hopes that they can make it through the winter. She hopes for the best, as she has no power over the outcome of her situation. King describes her response as “soft”, which creates a warm and gentle feeling commonly associated with maternal figures. Conversely to Jack, Wendy remains passive and is not angered by her lack of control. She understands that she has no control over this situation, and accepts