“You’ve Always Been the Caretaker” How The Shining’s Ending Traps Jack Torrance in Stephen King’s Multiverse
The ending of The Shining isn’t just about madness, ghosts, or cabin fever; it’s about consumption. The Overlook Hotel doesn’t merely haunt its guests; it devours them. By the time Jack Torrance swings his axe through the snow-covered halls, he’s no longer a man losing control. He’s a man who’s been completely absorbed by the building itself, body and soul. That’s the real horror of The Shining: evil doesn’t simply kill you, it keeps you. When Jack’s face appears in that old photograph at the end, frozen in time among a party crowd from decades earlier, it’s not just a creepy final image. It’s the hotel declaring ownership. Jack isn’t dead; he’s part of the Overlook now. The hotel has a way of recycling souls, binding them to its endless cycle of violence and memory. It’s a closed loop; people arrive, the hotel consumes them, and their spirits become part of the decor. The line “You’ve always been the caretaker” isn’t just psychological manipulation; it’s cosmic truth. Jack has always ...