Mirrors of the Soul
Many of the scenes in which Jack falls deeper into his emotional abyss contain mirrors. Two such scenes appear virtually in tandem. Jack, already well along the path of madness, stumbles into the Overlook's ostensibly empty ballroom, seething with frustration. A "recovered" alcoholic, Jack sits at the ballroom's mirrored bar and yearns to quell his mood with a drink. At this point, Jack looks up and, speaking directly into the camera with such matter-of-fact familiarity (as if to break the fourth wall), greets the first manifestation of his unconscious--the stoic, macabre bartender he calls Lloyd. It is important to note that Jack's conversation with Lloyd is essentially a conversation with the mirror behind the bar, a Kubrickian indication that Jack is talking to himself.
Though perhaps the most significant instance of unconscious reflection occurs while Jack talks to Delbert Grady, the spectral Jazz Age waiter whom he meets during the Gold Room ball sequence. If you look closely, you will notice that, while Grady stands in front of him, Jack is actually peering at himself in the mirror during the entire conversation. They speak in a men's bathroom, the color of which is a blinding red, signifying the Faustian blood oath that they organize. It is here that Jack, at Grady's behest, moves toward satiating his unconscious desire to kill his family.
Read more:
Representing the Unconscious in Stanley Kubrick's The Shining
The Cinematic Unconscious
Mirrors of the Soul
All Work and No Play
Shine On
Suggested Reading
About the Author