What is the meaning of things that seem to double in “The Shining”?
In his dictionary of symbols J. E. Cirlot (1) writes, “Every case of duplication concerns duality” balanced symmetry and the active equipoise [equilibrium] of opposite forces. Double images the symmetrical duplication of forms of figures […] symbolise precisely that.” There are two sorts of doubling produced by reflection. i. Horizontal doubling that occurs when something is reflected by the surface of a lake – as in the opening shot of The Shining. ii. Vertical doubling that is produced by looking into a mirror where the image is reversed. An example of vertical doubling is when Jack is shown reflected in a mirror when Wendy brings him breakfast. William Stewart (2) observed that “a mirror reflects what is in front of it and is the only way we can see ourselves. It is the instrument of self contemplation […] in some magical way looking though the door of the mirror [reveals] hidden truths.” Mirrors also are discussed in Freud’s essay “Das Unheimlich” (3). identifying the original
