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The Overlook Hotel burns to the ground at the end of The Shining after the boiler explodes, and the boiler is symbolic of Jack Torrance’s building insanity and murderous rage throughout the novel. When Jack is first hired as the winter caretaker at the hotel, Watson gives him special instructions to check the boiler twice a day. The boiler is old, and it doesn’t have an automatic shut-off. The temperature rises and the pressure builds, and it must be periodically dumped to avoid catastrophe. “It creeps,” Watson warns. The boiler is rated up to 250 pounds per square inch, “but she’d blow long before that now,” and Watson admits he wouldn’t stand next to it at 180.
Jack develops a routine of checking the boiler twice each day, and he soon begins spending most of his time in the basement after he finds the scrapbook. Like the boiler, Jack’s insanity begins to “creep” as the evil forces of the hotel influence his thoughts and actions, manipulating him through his alcoholism and commitment to his family. By the time Jack goes completely insane, hallucinating people and martinis, he starts forgetting to check the boiler and once lets the pressure build all the way up to 210 before finally hitting the damper. Jack forgets the boiler again at the end of the novel, just like Tony says he will, during a psychotic break in which he tries to kill Wendy and Danny. When Danny reminds Jack, and he finally checks the boiler, the gauge is buried in the red, and it is spitting steam and sparks. Jack dumps the boiler, and the gauge begins to fall. He screams, “I WIN!” and then the boiler explodes, just like Jack’s murderous insanity, killing Jack and destroying the hotel.
The Boiler Quotes in The Shining
The The Shining quotes below all refer to the symbol of The Boiler . For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 3
Quotes
“She creeps,” Watson said. “You tell that fat little peckerwood Ullman, he drags out the account books and spends three hours showing how we can’t afford a new one until 1982. I tell you, this whole place is gonna go sky-high someday, and I just hope that fat fuck’s here to ride the rocket.
Related Characters:
Related Symbols:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire The Shining LitChart as a printable PDF.
The Boiler Symbol Timeline in The Shining
The timeline below shows where the symbol The Boiler appears in The Shining. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 1: Job Interview
...wing. Ullman informs Jack that a man named Watson will show him the basement and boiler, and then Ullman says that if not for Al Shockley, a powerful man who sits...
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Chapter 3: Watson
...run through Jack’s mind. “You lost your temper,” he’d said. Watson moves on to the boiler, and Jack follows, but his mind is on Danny. It had happened so fast, but...
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...drink and wonders if this feeling will ever leave him. Watson is pointing at the boiler’s pressure gauge, which measures in pounds per square inch. The boiler is old, Watson says,...
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...thermostats in the hotel are only for show. Jack will have to come down to boiler twice a day and check the gauge. “She creeps,” Watson says. He tells Jack that...
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The boiler is rated to 250 psi, Watson tells Jack, but Watson wouldn’t stand next to it...
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Chapter 12: The Grand Tour
...is also preparing to leave. He reminds Jack to keep a close eye on the boiler and gives Wendy another lustful look. As Ullman picks up his bags to leave, he...
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Chapter 18: The Scrapbook
...roque court, so Jack goes down to the basement to hit the damper on the boiler and look for rats. Here, Jack finds old boxes filled with newspapers, ledgers, and receipts...
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Chapter 20: Talking to Mr. Ullman
...is instantly worried that something is wrong. No, Jack assures him, everything is fine. The boiler is holding, and Jack hasn’t killed his wife yet. He is saving murder for after...
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Chapter 25: Inside 217
...the fire knitting a scarf, and Jack goes down in the basement to check the boiler. He has become obsessive about checking the boiler, and it gives him an excuse to...
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Chapter 40: In the Basement
Jack is in the basement looking through boxes again, when he suddenly remembers the boiler. He has been in the basement all night looking for clues and information about the...
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Chapter 55: That Which Was Forgotten
...it isn’t Jack anymore, but a mixture of all the spirits in the hotel. “The boiler!” Danny suddenly yells, and realization dawns on the thing’s face. It moves down the hall...
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Chapter 56: The Explosion
...doesn’t take Wendy long to put it together either, and she asks Hallorann if the boiler is going to blow. That is what Danny says, Hallorann confirms. Wendy is glad, as...
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In the basement, the thing that was Jack Torrance runs to the boiler, which is glowing red and groaning. The needle of the pressure gauge is buried in...
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