Narrator

The first-person narrator is the protagonist of A Shining. His character remains unnamed throughout the novel. From context clues, the reader can infer that the narrator is an adult man “who live[s] alone” (12). At the novel’s start, the narrator finds himself overcome by boredom. To alleviate his boredom, he decides to take a drive without any plans or destination in mind. While it feels “good to be moving” as he makes random “right or left” turns off the main road, as soon as the narrator’s car gets stuck on a forest road, he is entirely immobilized (9). Instead of trying to dig the car out or go in immediate search of help, he turns off the engine and sits there staring out his windshield. His immobilization in these early scenes of the novel points to his more sweeping psychological entrapment.

Once the narrator realizes that if...