A Woman of Oonalashka
A Man of Nootka Sound
A Woman of Prince William Sound
by John Webber
MAIN PAGE ⎔ SECTION PAGE ⎔ SITE MAP ⎔ GLOSSARY
ART OF THE 237 LEVEL
BATTLE OF SISTERS CREEK ⎔ ENGLISH SPRINGER SPANIEL ⎔ MAN OF VAN DIEMENS LAND ⎔ OXBOROUGH ⎔ RABBIT PRINT ⎔ STILL LIFE OF FLOWERS IN A JUG ⎔ THREE JOHN WEBBER PRINTS ⎔ YEI PICTORIAL
A MAN OF NOOTKA SOUND
APPEARANCE
41:14-43:04; 57:31-58:17; 75:59-76:16
Seen first along the hall on the wall directly opposite from 237 during Danny’s second trike ride. Seen again when Danny’s playing outside 237. And seen (but not turned to the camera) when Jack emerges from 237.
The man painting is only (clearly) seen once, and first, as Danny’s ride begins. All the other (recognizable) sightings are of the two women paintings (one at the entrance of 237, and one roughly around where the 237 bedroom/bathroom would be).
IDENTITY/HISTORIC SIGNIFICANCE
Webber accompanied Captain Cook on his last voyage through the Pacific Ocean (Cook died in a fight in Hawaii). In so doing, he became the first European artist to make contact with Hawaii, which were called the Sandwich Islands at the time, for the Earl of Sandwich. The first drawing in the movie is from a time in April of 1778 when Cook’s ships, Resolution and Discovery were anchored at Ship Cove, which is now Nootka Sound, Vancouver Island, Canada.
There was also something known as the Nootka crisis, or Nootka incident, where British ships were seized by the Spanish, leading to public outcry, and, eventually, enough militaries not being interested in going to war about it for a diplomatic conclusion to define the event. The indigenous people were integral to this diplomacy, including the hospitality of chief Maquinna. This event is considered a general result of Spanish conquistador Balboa’s claiming the western coasts of the Americas for Spain. I thought that was interesting since The Shining possesses more than a few subtle references to the film Rocky, which concerns the boxer Rocky Balboa. Since Balboa was an agent of conquest, I wonder if Kubrick saw the name “Rocky Balboa” as a metaphor meaning “conqueror of the Rocky mountains”. Since Rocky is (spoilers) narrowly defeated by his opponent, Apollo Creed, it’s interesting that Jack is not defeated by Dick Hallorann, since the man who rents Dick the snowcat is played by Tony Burton, most famous for playing Apollo Creed’s trainer, Tony Evers.
The indigenous people of Nootka Sound are the Nuu-chah-nulth, who are closely related to the Makah. In the lobby, most prominently beside where the Charles Grady ghost will appear, is a painting called Makah Returning in Their War Canoes. So there’s an artwork referencing Northern Pacific indigenous people in a war pose, and there’s an artwork here referencing the same peoples in a diplomacy pose.
I also want to mention here how the Makah are closely situated to the people known as the Colville. And I have a theory about how all the Alex Colville paintings in the film connect to the history of those people.
A WOMAN OF OONALASHKA
IDENTITY
Oonalashka is Unalaska, the Aleut name for the main island in the Fox Islands group of the Aleutian Islands in the now state of Alaska. The name means “near the peninsula”, and room 237 is like a peninsula, if we take an aerial view of the Colorado lounge’s larger layout.
SYMBOLIC SIGNIFICANCE
This Fox Islands painting hangs right across from 237, which is where we see two fox paintings.
Also, Hallorann is summoned to the Overlook thanks to Danny’s experiences in 237. And Delbert Grady does reduce Hallorann’s identity to “cook” (while Ullman refers to him as the “head chef”). Cook was stabbed to death by Hawaiians while attempting to kidnap their king.
A WOMAN OF PRINCE WILLIAM SOUND
HISTORIC SIGNIFICANCE
As for Prince William Sound’s namesake, William IV would go on to become a well-liked man of the people, who accomplished more than a few great deeds in his life, it seems. I’m no historian, but two things jump out at me to help explain why Kubrick may have chosen this piece to sit directly outside 237’s bed/bath.
- He assented to the Slavery Abolition Act of 1833, ending slavery in much of the empire.
- Once he became king, he also became the last king of Hanover. As we’ll see in a bit, there’s a painting outside the blowjob room referencing (a different) Hanover (which could be a reference to an even other Hanover).
The anti-slavery aspect of William IV could be a nod to the fact that Danny’s lesson key hangs on the wall above the 237 bed (the “key” to being a good king is ending slavery, etc.).
The Hanover connection creates a link to Wendy’s experience of Conquest, which in her experience is sexual in nature, as is (at least partly) what goes on between both the men in her life and the 237 ghost.
A MAN OF VAN DIEMAN’S LAND
Finally, there’s one more piece in this hall, which, if it is a Webber, and I believe it is, could only be one of two pieces. Click here to read all about it.
MIRRORFORM SIGNIFICANCE – SPECIAL: THE QUEEN’S DOG
The pieces all appear across an 111 second sequence as Danny trikes around the hall the first time (41:14-43:04), and again for 46 seconds as Danny gets lured into 237 (57:31-58:17), for a grand total of 157 seconds. Recall that that’s 2:37 in time, a number my F21 theory associates with “play”. Danny is first teased by the locked door with a flash of the Grady twins (42:45) who shortly thereafter invite him to “come play” (49:40-50:17 – 37 seconds). And then it’s a pink tennis ball that finally lures him in. Finally, only A Woman of Prince William Sound appears behind Jack (and impossible to make out) as he flees his 237 experience (75:59-76:16 – 17 seconds).
So, for the 111 sequence, the mirror action is Dick telling Larry that the Torrances might need to be replaced. Larry then says he’ll fix up the cat for Dick. This is followed by Dick driving up the snowy highway, which includes him passing a sign reading WESTMINSTER (sorry, I can’t find an image of this on the site, and I’m really low on room for new images, so it’s at 99:03 of the film). Westminster is also the name of the district that our King William hailed from, in England. This sign passes right before Danny tries the door in the below shot, in a moment with the same framing, so Danny’s got A Man of Nootka Sound and A Man of Van Diemen’s Land behind him in this moment. The radio announcer on the other side is saying how “Wolf Creek and Red Mountain passes are closed, and the chain law is in effect in the Eisenhower tunnel.”
Then, when Jack’s escaping past Prince William Sound later, the Jack on the other side (overlapping the etching) is saying “White man’s burden, Lloyd my man, white man’s burden.” This is a reference to a poem written for the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria in 1899. Queen Victoria was the one who took over control of the crown from Prince William, who died in 1837.
The Webbers that appear while Danny’s being lured into 237 mirror over the majority of the last Jack/Lloyd chat, starting with Jack’s line “Hair of the dog that bit me!” as Prince William swings back into view, and ending with Lloyd’s line “Orders from the house.” He’s answering Jack’s confusion about how there could possibly be no charge for his drink. Lloyd is rejecting Jack’s money, and as he does so, it looks like he’s pushing Danny toward 237 in the mirrorform.
In other words, there’s a tonne of passages that are opening and closing in these sequences. Acceptance and rejection. But there’s also all this subtext about royalty…
…and that “Hair of the dog that bit me!” line jumps out at me for a related reason.
If you’re familiar with my Aarne-Thompson findings, you might recall that one of the stories buried in the numbers hidden around the film is Sidi Nouman, (AKA, The Queen’s Dog). The AT code for that is 449, and that number appears (in exclusion, you’ll notice) on the license plate of a car outside the Overlook at 23:31-23:34.
I haven’t gotten into this yet here, but I believe that the Webber etchings indicate where the hotel was hoping to absorb the various characters from the film. You can read all about this idea here. But basically I think the ones it was successful with were in absorbing Dick into room 238, and Jack into room 231. And remember, this Queen’s Dog AT code is appearing at 23:31.
One of the most recurring folktales in King’s novel is Bluebeard, the AT code for which is 312 (a 231 jumble), and in that story a wealthy and powerful nobleman keeps bumping off his wives for going into the one room he tells them not to go in. And what should be in that room but the heads of all his former wives (how did the first one get decapitated?).
When Jack says “Hair of the dog that bit me”, the painting in the mirrorform does indeed become A Woman of Prince William Sound, but it’s also just finished curving away from the first painting Danny sees inside 237: Dog, Boy, and St. John River.
In my analysis of that painting, I discuss how the dog might be Tony, following the boy (Danny) psychically into 237, or it could be about Jack tracing his son’s journey through the evil room, or it could even be that we’re the dog following the movie’s narrative into the dark places it goes. In any event, the dog is certainly the follower, so Jack’s line about a dog biting him is apt in a few ways. It speaks to his experience going through 237, and how the (Queen’s) dog would ever be so brazen as to nip at the heels of one such as he. The Jack Torrance. Everlasting caretaker of the Overlook hotel.
Jack’s barely masking his terror that he might not be one of the mighty forces to have ever tracked upon the face of the earth. That he’s not a guest of the Overlook for the same reasons as all the “presidents” and “royalty” and “all the best people” who’ve stayed here.
But he’s the dog. He’s literally the dog. So the “hair of the dog” is his own hair. He’s doing this to himself. Without realizing how or why…he’s asking the hotel to help him commit suicide. And Kubrick used these etchings of indigenous peoples, products of British imperialism (produced across the 6 years following American independence), to show just how ignorant Jack really was to all this, as he accepted the offer to live inside Independence Day forever and ever and ever.
Next art reference: Rabbit Print
MAIN PAGE ⎔ SECTION PAGE ⎔ SITE MAP ⎔ GLOSSARY
OTHER MAIN PAGES FOR SHINING ANALYSIS
THE MIRRORFORM ⎔ THE BEATLES ⎔ THE RUM AND THE RED
BACKGROUND ART ⎔ OVERLOOK PHOTOGRAPHS ⎔ GOLDEN SPIRALS
PHI GRIDS ⎔ PATTERNS ⎔ VIOLENCE AND INDIGENA ⎔ ABSURDITIES
THE STORY ROOM ⎔ ANIMAL SYMBOLS ⎔ THE ANNOTATED SHINING
EYE SCREAM 