The Shining: Chapter 54 Summary & Analysis

Danny is in a dark hallway, and he can hear Tony calling his name. The doors to the rooms are closed, and instead of numbers, there are skulls and crossbones on the doors. He hears Tony calling again, and in the distance, he hears the now familiar sound of the roque mallet striking. Danny is afraid, but it is a muted fear. Danny has been scared for two months straight—from slight discomfort to complete horror—and he can handle the level of fear in the dark hallway. He wants to find Tony.

Danny can see Tony at the end of the long hallway, and Danny asks him where he is. Tony says Danny is sleeping in Jack and Wendy’s bed, and then he tells Danny that it is very likely both Wendy and Hallorann will be killed. Images of death invade Danny’s mind—a dead frog, Jack’s broken watch, and tombstones—and he begins to cry. He can envision his own death easier than his mother’s, or his father’s. Danny begins to struggle in his sleep, and Tony’s image starts to deteriorate. Tony begs him to stop, and Danny screams that Wendy can’t be dead. 

Tony tells Danny that he will have to help Wendy, and then he tells Danny that he is in a place deep down inside his own mind, where Tony lives. Tony is part of Danny, he says, but Danny denies it. Tony says that they are alone here. The clocks don’t work, and keys don’t fit in the doors. They are safe for a moment, but “it” is coming. “It,” Danny says. Suddenly, Danny allows himself to admit for the first time that the mallet-wielding figure in his visions is Jack. 

Danny says that he must help both Jack and Wendy, and Tony stands directly in front of him for the first time. Danny can clearly see Tony, and it is like looking into a mirror 10 years from now. Tony is a mix of Danny—Daniel Anthony Torrance—and Jack. Tony says that Jack is coming, and that Danny must hide. He tells Danny that he will remember what Jack forgets, and he disappears. Danny can hear Jack calling his name, threatening him with a spanking and striking the walls with the roque mallet. Danny runs over the bright blue and black carpet, and the doors have numbers again.

Danny runs by the Presidential Suite and sees two bodies rumpled on the floor. He tells himself they aren’t real and keeps running. The bodies fade, as if they hadn’t been there, and Danny hears the roque mallet again. One of the doors opens, and a rotting woman steps out, inviting him in. Danny ignores her and keeps running. He can hear Jack somewhere and can just make out a mechanical buzzing sound. Danny hopes it is Hallorann. He tries to decipher Tony’s riddle. What will he remember that Jack forgets? He feels like he almost knows but doesn’t yet have an answer.

Danny hears the elevator and knows Jack is inside. The elevator comes to a stop, and Jack gets out, calling Danny’s name. Danny suddenly remembers the attic and runs. He rounds the corner and sees the pole Jack uses to grab the trapdoor to the attic. Danny grabs the pole and looks up: a new padlock hangs from the door. Danny is trapped with nowhere to run. He hears Jack down by the Presidential Suite. Danny can’t get out without passing Jack in the hallway. He sits down and waits.