Jack went crazy from cabin-fever and the spirits within the Overlook Hotel. The entities had Jack get drunk, but when he began to attack Wendy and Danny, was it just being drunk and cabin-fever making him develop a split personality? One side being the "real" Jack who loved his family and the other being the Jack created by the Hotel? Thanks. What was the main entity of the Overlook Hotel anyhow?
shareJack's drunken state simply made him more susceptible to the hotel's influence. Even drunk Jack would not have turned into a psychopathic killer, me may have been violent and mean for a moment. Like when he broke Danny's arm, he was somewhat out of control and had a bad temper, but as soon as he realized what he had done he reverted back to his normal self and immediately felt guilty. Clearly that wasn't the case at the Overlook. The alcohol simply made it easier for the Overlook to control him, because there was less resistance from his normal self. I think towards the end Jack was beginning to sober up and thus was able to resist the Overlook's control long enough to destroy the hotel.
The main entity of the Overlook is personified in this movie as Horace Derwent. However this is less emphasized in the novel. In fact Horace Derwent is said to still be alive in the novel, so obviously his ghost can't be present. King probably changes this to give a face and identity to the Overlook's leader of the spirits, which is less defined in the novel.
Derwent? Thanks. Had no idea. I thought he was just another one of the ghosts. If Harry was alive, it's hard to comprehend how he controlled the other entities at the Overlook. In the novel, the primary entity seemed to be a demon.
shareA good description of Jack's growing madness and how the hotel had to get him to drink again to make him susceptible enough.
The hotel itself is really the leader of the ghosts/spirits in the novel. Due to all the evil that had happened in the Overlook, the hotel itself became sentient with an over-arching spirit. This entity kept the spirits of everyone who died on the hotel grounds (and of course in the hotel itself) and they joined the ever-growing ranks.
Danny's power was just too irresistible for the hotel, since his "shine" made the hotel-entity and its subservient spirits more real, and able to actually manifest in the real world.
Anyway, the origin of the hotel-spirit is never explained in the novel, but only alluded to due to all the evil that happened in the place. The Overlook-entity is utterly destroyed at the end of the novel, though apparently the spirits themselves survived the hotel's destruction, and even find Danny again years later, as described in the sequel novel, "Doctor Sleep".
Jack went crazy from cabin-fever and the spirits within the Overlook Hotel.
There are no spirits or entities?
What would you call Horace Derwent?
Just one: The Overlook, or whatever malevolent spirit possesses it. Derwent et al aren't haunting the hotel. It took them, to be sure, but they are no longer there.
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