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Chapter 6
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Shining, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Fear, the Paranormal, and Reality
Precognition, Second Sight, and the Shining
Family
Isolation and Insanity
Alcoholism and Abuse
Time
Summary
Analysis
As Wendy drifts to sleep, Danny wakes up in his own bed. He can still hear the words of the mallet-wielding figure from his dream. “Come out here and take your medicine! I’ll find you! I’ll find you!” With his heart pounding, Danny goes to the window and looks out, calling for Tony. Danny looks up and down the street, but Tony is nowhere to found. Suddenly, Danny can hear Tony calling his name. “Don’t go, Danny…” Tony’s voice says from the darkness of the street below. Danny stands staring out the window—for a minute? Or an hour? He doesn’t know. Then, Danny goes back to bed. He closes his eyes, and as he falls asleep, the word “REDRUM” flashes in red in his mind.
Danny seems to lose his sense of time while staring out the window, which often happens during his visions and also reflects the warped sense of time that will develop over the course of the novel. Danny doesn’t yet know where Tony doesn’t want him to go, although it is certainly implied that Tony is talking about the Overlook.
Themes
