Well, you know Doc, when something
happens it can leave a trace of
itself behind... say like is
someone burns toast.
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in a literal example, Danny and Halloran talked about eating ice cream in No.17, and in No.19 we see the ice cream covered bowl and Danny’s face- but not seeing the ice cream being eaten.
Wendy walking through Jack’s path is a literal example. She literally walks through his
path smelling the smoke to see the fire: Image 1879, Image 1882
M.C.S. DANNY
Well, maybe things that happened...
leave other kinds of traces behind.
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M.C.S. HALLORAN
Not things that anyone can notice,
but things that people who shine
can see. Just like they can see
things that haven't happened yet.
Well, sometimes they can see things
that happened a long time ago... I
think a lot of things happened
right here in this particular
hotel - over the years, and not all
of them was good.
The metaphorical examples:
No.5 “stacked them neatly in the west wing”
the death of The Grady family haunts the memory of the hotel
No.5 / Ullman dressed as Am. Flag conflates the Am. History aspect of the “Burnt Toast” analogy
No.7, 224
The incident between Jack and Danny and Jack’s work haunt the Torrance family
No.11 / “All the best people” ties in Am. History with imagery of Native American chief after seeing all of the black and white photos.
We see the Grady Girls slain, and an axe, but not the killing or that it was Grady / their father.
We see Danny approach/enter Room 237
Next we see Danny with bruises, in a trance.
Alcoholism haunts Jack
The incident between Jack and Danny haunts the Torrance marriage/life
No.48, Image 961, Image 962, Image 963
this revenge sequence
Jack’s inadequacy
Inadequate men shortchanging their children’s futures so that they can line their pockets, simultaneously stepping on the backs of people who are in fact better (Halloran’s true status) but because they are of another race, they’re “not as good”
American. History.
Jack killing Halloran, Jack chasing after Danny to kill him: No.78, No.79, No.80, No.82, No.84, No.86, No.88, No.91
thematic reflection
Well, sometimes they can see things
that happened a long time ago... I
think a lot of things happened
right here in this particular
hotel - over the years, and not all
of them was good.
100% reflected of the Domestic Violence Narrative
Wendy watches news stories with men being violent towards women
No.65, Image 1540, Image 1545, Image 1551, Image 1560,
Wendy keeps Jack in the pantry after the argument in Co Lounge.
M.C.S. DANNY
What about Room 237?
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M.C.S. HALLORAN
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M.C.S. DANNY
You're scared of Room 237, ain'tcha?
This is another instance of the characters knowing more than Kubrick is showing you.
No.6 and Danny’s Tony conversation showed nothing of Room 237- not the room, the name, the key, the interior nothing.
It’s Danny’s awareness of things beyond his understanding. The false association of Room 237 with ghosts/haunting/the bad things (in related to The Hotel as an evil spirt) is started here. “A lot of things happened here over the years, and not all of them was good” / “What about Room 237” is similar associating to No.9 / “I’m hungry”/ “Wasn’t the Donner party out here?” In that hunger/food might be their demise, but of course, not.
Room 237 might be where the bad thing is, but the bad thing is not ghosts.
Danny touches the doorknob of Room 237, but doesn’t see inside it- he sees (or thinks of) The Grady Girls and sees them in the West Wing Hallway.
Halloran in his “Stay out, there ain’t nothing in Room 237” is him protecting Danny from whatever signals he’s getting. Danny didn’t share with Halloran the things Tony showed him, so regardless of what it was- stay away from the things you already knew about this hotel before you got here.
see: Halloran as Danny’s spiritual father
Halloran's explanation, superficial as it is, makes a great set up for the micro/macro way Kubrick deals with symbolism.
The smell of burnt toast can relate to the ghosts, mentioned while learning about the Native American burial ground in No.14, the Grady girls in No.12, Grady and Lloyd, but it can also relate to the history of the Torrance’s family life (from No.7 and No.47) as the burnt toast Halloran is referring to.
Additionally, it can also refer to the historical events taking place in America.
In terms of a euphemism,
In this image · No.5