Shinning/Empathy a Metaphor for all?

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I couldn’t help but notice that all the protagonist, or just relatively good characters from Stephen King’s “The Shinning” had the special gift of the shine. This got me thinking about whether or not this great writer made a metaphor (intentionally or not) to the fact that those with the shinning are really those with strong empathetic tendencies. Of course, in real life strongly empathetic people cannot speak telepathically or can read minds. But, they can associate themselves with another person’s hardships and truly imagine their feelings, much like young Danny can for his family and other characters in the novel.
This metaphor I thought, would be a very intriguing idea to investigate from his novel so I took some time to really think about how this is represented.

Let’s start with Danny, the one that shined the beyond the rest (sorry for the pun). He was clearly able to feel how his mother and father felt throughout the novel and often used this to try and comfort his parents. Although, in the end he was unable to save his father he knew through the shinning that his father had fallen prey to the Overlook and inside Jack was soaked with regret, shame, fear, and guilt for his actions. This allowed Danny to be brave and stand up to his father, in the end saving his mother and Hallorann. This young boy who was constantly terrified stood up against a lot and sacrificed a lot for his family, this is because of his gift of the shinning giving him a deeper understanding of his families struggles and endowing Danny with the power of empathy.

Now for Hallorann, who clearly showed great care and respect for Danny. His shinning ability allowed him to feel the fear and anguish Danny was in from miles and miles away. As soon as Hallorann felt this connection and had this understanding of Danny’s true feeling there was no way he could have just abandoned the child. Obviously, the empathy gifted to him by his shinning ability allowed him to be a brave and stronger protector for Danny and ultimately bring him to safety.

And, Hallorann would not have been able to complete his mission of rescuing Danny if it had not been for the plow driver on the side of the road who helped Hallorann move his car, gave Hallorann the gloves, and helped him obtain a snowmobile. This character had the shinning as well, allowing him to have a sense of how important Hallorann’s mission was and feel how desperate Hallorann was to save poor Danny. This is another instance where a character’s empathy for another truly saved the day and this is all due to this monumental characters having the shinning.

Ghost Adventure V. IPS (Investigative Paranormal Society)

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Within the pages of Maledicus, by Charles French, three older gentlemen come together and form an investigative paranormal group in which they go around from client to client conducting thorough investigations about ghosts/spirits etc. There are numerous real-live individuals who dedicate their lives to this, I chose to utilize Zak and his crew from ghost adventures to create a parallel to compare and contrast IPS to.

Purpose: Both groups strive to find the truth and hone their sixth sense. However, Sam, Jeremy, and Franklin are especially try to ensure the safety of their clients making their group more like vigilante heroes then simply studying a craft for knowledge.

Method: Both groups share many of the same equipment and also the same style. Showing much like the scientific method there is a certain way to investigate these specific things. However, IPS usually starts their investigations “like gentlemen sipping tea” and they politely engage the ghost unless giving a reason to be aggressive. Where the men from Ghost Adventures try anything they can to incite a reaction from the ghost striving to collect data and strive for more knowledge.

Members: Many of the members of IPS are older men that were brought together by their shared loss and pain. I personally feel as though at the beginning IPS was formed for a way for these friends to mourn together when they were to proud to admit the amount of pain they were truly in. On the other hand, Zak (the leader of Ghost Adventures) began his group when he encountered a ghost himself and now he is dedicated to discovering the truth. His friends and him are brought together not by need but more because they are all curious together.

How Frankenstein could have ended…

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Although I believe that Mary Shelley is an excellent writer, and her innovation of creating such a new and profound Gothic novel is inspiring. I have a few bones to pick with characters, as if they are real and would care about my opinion.

I’ll begin with Victor. I do not condemn him for building the creature in the first place, but I do think his responsibility meter was way out of wack. Sure, I’ll give him that he was scared in the beginning with a seven-foot half-alive thing walking towards him. But, when the creature disappeared didn’t he ever wonder where he went? Like if he believed this creature to be so dangerous he was scared to enter his house again, why wasn’t he worried about it being released on society in the first place. If Victor had looked for the creature he may have found him and realized how “human” he really was changing the entire dynamic of the story. It could have been Victor and the creature working together to change the way society judges people by their appearance. It could have been beautiful and maybe Victor could have made him a companion (male or female) that the monster could be with forever.

Now, Victor does not hold all the blame. The creature himself really should have controlled himself better. I rallied with him in the beginning, thinking he really deserved a mate and a chance to prove himself. He began so nice and innocent helping the french family and saving a drowning girl. But, he let anger take over him so easily and turned to vengeance. If he had utilized other tactics, like NOT murdering Victor’s little brother I’m sure Victor would have been much more willing to make him a friend and it could have ended well for everyone. With the creature finally being able to feel accepted and grow to learn about love and companionship. Together him and his mate could have worked together to get society to accept them. Or, at the very least, had each other.

Now, moving past the misunderstandings and vital mistakes of the two main characters (who I believe were essentially their own antagonists) the ending itself could have been handled much better by all of those within the scene. The creature, again makes the mistake of letting self-pity envelope himself instead of trying to change. He had Walton listening to him, actually rallying with him at moments despite the creature being the reason for all of Victor’s misfortune. The creature should have used this to ask Walton to help him better himself. He say the consequences of his bloodthirsty ways and instead of condemning himself to a guilty death he should have sentenced himself to a life of trying to better life for all the humans that he can. There could be some fantastic way that he saves Walton’s ship from its icy conditions and makes his adventure even more amazing. But, he does not thus creating a dynamic character that instead of growing, slowly crumbles throughout a novel.

Semi-Self-Published English Student

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My name is Isabella King. A student at Lehigh University and I am excited to share a small excerpt (about the first two paragraphs) of a book I wrote senior year of high school.

Many more edits are in the works although there are a few printed copies out there.

Chapter One
2099-10-01 18:36:03
Today is the first of October, and it might be
the last day that I am me. I’m told what I’m doing is
right, and both my naivety and guilt keep me from
disagreeing. But, even if my conscience decided to
change its mind today it’d be too late. By the time, I
rest my head on a pillow tonight-well, will there be
pillows? Doesn’t matter. I’m filled with so many
questions I feel like my brain is going to override and
fry up, in the next hour, though, I guess my brain will
feel less cluttered, it will feel empty. I must admit to
some fear, because I’m only human. My fear is I won’t
be me anymore. Is it the memories that make the
person? Or the decisions? If I have no memory of those
decisions will I still be me? Will I have the same fears
and insecurities, or will they fade away with my past
and my friends? My turn is next, they’re coming to get
me now. They’ll pull this thing out, and I may stay, or
I may disappear along with my memories. So, I sent
this to you, to try and keep my memories alive, they
are the only evidence left of what really happened.

Simone’s voice comes off crisply and flows
into the ear piece as I press play. I had almost forgotten
what she sounded like, but as I look down at the tablet,
reading the words as she says them, I don’t know how I
ever forgot. These memories were so precious to her,
and I almost let them slip away. Selfishly, I want them
to fade and disappear. Her memories are gone, and she
can’t remember me anymore. I, however, am left with
the scars of losing her. I rub my index finger gently
against the glass screen, as if touching her words
somehow connect me to her.