The death of Patriarchy within 'The Shining'

As ‘The Shining’ draws to a climax during Jack’s axe wielding rampage, the nuclear family dynamic is brought to attention and criticized within the film. This is demonstrated particularly when Jack breaks down the two doors within the family’s apartment, asserting his power as the father. This critique of the family dynamic is established not only through Jack Nicolson’s style of acting and the dialogue, but also through the mise-en-scene and cinematography within the scene. In addition, Jack’s role as the father is thrown into question as he reverts into a child-like state through his actions.

Throughout the film it is evident that Jack has been repressing his anger and frustrations towards his wife and son, slowly building hatred and condemning himself to solitary confinement, expressing his concerns with the spirits of the hotel. During the scene in question, it could be inferred that Jack is trying to rekindle the love with his family, to meet and talk with them, regardless of the fatality of the scenario. Sobchack’s article generates discussion when her more generalized statements are compared to ‘The Shining’, rather than the section within the reading that directly references the film (Sobchack, 146). This is evident in the following line, “At a time when the mythology of our dominant culture can no longer resolve the social contradictions exposed by experience, the nuclear family has found itself in nuclear crisis.” (Sobchack, 146). With reference to the scene in question, it could be observed that Jack is indeed trying to salvage his family and bring them together.

With regard to the mise-en-scene of the scene, Jack firstly is separated from the apartment in a blue room, indicative of masculinity, power and patriarchy.

Once through the room he enters the yellow foyer of the apartment, a color which is commonly used when the sex of a child is not known during pregnancy, one of neutrality. As he enters the room Jack is the typical bourgeois family man, the ‘bread-winner’, entering with the phrase, “Wendy, I’m home”, indicative of a dominant and traditional family man.

At these two stages Jack is dominant and in control, methodically working through the rooms trying to find Wendy and Danny. However, when Jack is outside the bathroom, the room is entirely pink, and Jack succumbs to a child-like state, speaking in nursery rhymes, making exaggerated facial expressions one might use when talking to a child.

Although equipped with the larger phallus, in that Jack has an axe and Wendy a knife, Jack is no longer the patriarch in the family, as he is no longer in control of his family or even himself. It is at this moment that the patriarchy is dissolved, which creates the inference that the nuclear family and the dominant father figure do not necessitate to a functional and successful family household.

Works cited:

Vivian Sobchack. “Bringing it All Back Home: Family Economy and Generic Exchange.” The Dread of Difference: Gender and the Horror Film. Barry Keith Grant, Ed. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1996. 143-163.