Trees

imagepm > overlook exterior /

Taken from a letter Colonel Henry Bouquet to General Amherst

“There appears to be few Savages yet on these frontiers, but every Tree is become an Indian for the terrified Inhabitant.”

(Amherst approved a proposal to spread smallpox through blankets in his July 1763 correspondence with Bouquet; see Native American Blankets.)

In instances where trees are shown, they appear to be ‘looming’. In the reference, the trees signify the ghosts of the past, closing in.

The amount of fake trees shown within The Overlook and the ring of trees that circle the Overlook create a sense of ‘looming’.

There’s two things to keep in mind: This is a created environment and no trees are actually there in front of the veneer of the hotel (it’s on a sound stage), and the interior of the hotel’s space is manufactured as well. The inclusion of trees— both fake and real— are meant to give a sense of place.

The trees are meant to signify the looming presence of Native Americans. The ones inside lurk behind corners like Jack will do when stalking Halloran, and the ring outside of the hotel mimics a famous photo of an encampment outside of a “reform” school that was assimilating stolen Native American children to white society.

Trees connect within a larger framework of semiotics all pointing to Native American assimilation as Northern American history.