The Shining: Psychoanalysis of Jack Torrent Character

Abstract

The Shining is a horror movie in which the character of Jack Torrance is very important. The psychoanalysis is a process in which describes, explain, predict, control are the four steps. This research paper aims at psychoanalyzing the character of Jack Torrance with a view to understand the psychological disorders he faced during that time. The symptoms for the disorders are also indicated including a delusion, improper communication, uneasiness and poor societal relationships. The result or occurrence of the disorders is also an important focus of the paper. The work is concluded by taking into account some of the treatment techniques such as medication, behavioral therapy, psychosurgery for the mentioned psychosomatic disorders.

Table of Contents

Introduction1

Character of Jack Torrance1

Symptoms2

Psychological Disorders3

Result of the disorders3

Control of the Psychological Disorder Behaviors and the available treatments4

Medications5

Holistic Treatment5

Behavioral Therapy6

Psychosurgery6

Conclusion6

References7

The Shining: Psychoanalysis of Jack Torrent Character

Introduction

One of the famous 1980's films is popular today with the name of “The Shining”. It was a psychological horror movie that was the direction and production of Stanley Kubrick, having Diane Johnson as a co-author. The film story is one the basis of a novel that was written with the same name by Stephen King. The story portrays the character of John Torrance who has a son having psychic abilities to see the events of past and future. The supernatural presence in the hotel captures Jack. A soft and loving person changes into a state of madness. The movie is ranked as one out of 11 scariest horror movies of all time (Scorsese, 2009).

Character of Jack Torrance

The novel and the movie presented Jack as a person who does not like authority and possesses well intentions. One of the issues that Jack faced was his struggle with the habit of taking alcohol. Jack was a person of middle age, lives with his wife and a five year old child name Danny. He moves with his family to a hotel in Colorado for a period of five months during the winter times. At the end of the movie, he eventually turns out to be a person who tries to kill his family. His personality turns out from a troubled father and husband to one who served as a murderous psychotic. The story portrays Jack as one who suffers from psychological disorders.

Symptoms

An attempt by Jack to kill his family provides a transformed shape of his character. A number of symptoms in the movie provide evidence that Jack' character has shown the development of schizophrenia and OCD. These symptoms include

A schizophrenia's diagnostic criteria were established by (DSM-IV), for the character like Jack seems to follow. This tool is the primary method for the diagnosing patients psychologically. A person suffering from this psychological disorder shows two of the following indications: misconceptions, illusions, the disorganization of speech and a rigid disorganized behavior. Jack possesses almost all of the mentioned characteristics and the most visible one was his misconceptions.

Jack also possesses misconception regarding ...