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Stuart Ullman
A plow truck driver in Colorado. Hallorann loses control of his rental car when he passes Howard Cottrell’s plow on a snowy road on the way to the Overlook Hotel and buries his car in the snow. Howard pulls Hallorann’s car out of the snow with his plow truck, and even offers Hallorann his mittens so Hallorann doesn’t freeze to death the next time he gets stuck. Hallorann tells Howard that he must get to the Overlook Hotel because Jack has gone insane and Wendy and Danny are in danger, and even though Howard knows there isn’t anyway Hallorann can know that (the phones are down and they aren’t in range of the hotel’s CB), Howard believes him. Howard “gets feelins,” he tells Hallorann. When Hallorann says he gets feelings, too, Howard says he already knows. Howard tells Hallorann to see Larry Durkin in Sidewinder about a snowmobile and to drop his name for a special rate. Without Howard’s kindness and “shine,” Larry Durkin likely wouldn’t have agreed to help Hallorann. Like Delores Vickery and the sour-faced woman, Howard Cottrell is an example of “shining” or intuiting others’ feelings and needs in the novel, and he illustrates how shines are drawn to other shines.
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Howard Cottrell Character Timeline in The Shining
The timeline below shows where the character Howard Cottrell appears in The Shining. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 49: Hallorann, Going Up the Country
...car comes to a stop at the guardrail, and the plow driver, a man named Howard Cottrell, gets out to help. Howard quickly pulls Hallorann’s rental car from the snowbank with...
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Hallorann insists that he must try to get to the Overlook, and Howard recognizes his urgency. He gives Hallorann a pair of gloves for when he gets stuck...
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Hallorann takes the gloves and thanks Howard. Howard comments that there isn’t any way that Hallorann could know there is trouble at...
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...at his watch during the ride, the hands are flying around the face. Just like Howard said, the roads up Sidewinder pass are closed, so Hallorann looks for Larry Durkin’s gas...
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Chapter 51: Hallorann Arrives
...them, and Durkin doesn’t like anything to do with the Overlook. However, when Hallorann mentions Howard Cottrell’s name, Durkin changes his tune and listens to Hallorann’s pleas.
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...helmet. As Hallorann gets ready to leave, Durkin says that Hallorann must know things like Howard does and offers to give him a rifle. Hallorann says it won’t do any good...
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Chapter 53: Hallorann Laid Low
...Hallorann doesn’t want the snowmobile, just the gas can strapped to the back. Still wearing Howard’s mittens, he tries to unstrap the gas can as the lion gains on him, snarling...
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...narrowly misses a swat from the lion and throws more gasoline at it. He rips Howard’s mitten off with his mouth, tasting gasoline, and digs in his pocket for a lighter....
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