Quotes to show Jack Torrance was always evil?

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wazowski

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Nov 13, 2015
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I know about the incidents such as breaking Danny's arm or attacking George Hatfield, but are there any specific (fairly concise) quotes to suggest that he always had the capacity for evil inside him, and the Overlook just brought it out?
As many as possible would be appreciated lots!!

thank you:)
 

GNTLGNT

The idiot is IN
Jun 15, 2007
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-“Wendy? Darling? Light, of my life. I'm not gonna hurt ya. I'm just going to bash your brains in.”

-“Once, during the drinking phase, Wendy had accused him of desiring his own destruction but not possessing the necessary moral fiber to support a full-blown deathwish. So he manufactured ways in which other people could do it, lopping a piece at a time off himself and their family.”

-“And that's when you realize what the Wagon really is, Lloyd. It's a church with bars on the windows, a church for women and a prison for you.”

-“It was not just Danny the Overlook was working on. It was working on him, too. It wasn't Danny who was the weak link, it was him. He was the vulnerable one, the one who could be bent and twisted until something snapped.”

-“just a moment his own consciousness had plunged through his daddy’s darkness to an incomprehensible word much more frightening than DIVORCE, and that word was SUICIDE.”
 

doowopgirl

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Aug 7, 2009
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-“Wendy? Darling? Light, of my life. I'm not gonna hurt ya. I'm just going to bash your brains in.”

-“Once, during the drinking phase, Wendy had accused him of desiring his own destruction but not possessing the necessary moral fiber to support a full-blown deathwish. So he manufactured ways in which other people could do it, lopping a piece at a time off himself and their family.”

-“And that's when you realize what the Wagon really is, Lloyd. It's a church with bars on the windows, a church for women and a prison for you.”

-“It was not just Danny the Overlook was working on. It was working on him, too. It wasn't Danny who was the weak link, it was him. He was the vulnerable one, the one who could be bent and twisted until something snapped.”

-“just a moment his own consciousness had plunged through his daddy’s darkness to an incomprehensible word much more frightening than DIVORCE, and that word was SUICIDE.”
Yep. Damaged from the beginning. Why the book was amillion times better than any filmed version.
 

wazowski

Member
Nov 13, 2015
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-“Wendy? Darling? Light, of my life. I'm not gonna hurt ya. I'm just going to bash your brains in.”

-“Once, during the drinking phase, Wendy had accused him of desiring his own destruction but not possessing the necessary moral fiber to support a full-blown deathwish. So he manufactured ways in which other people could do it, lopping a piece at a time off himself and their family.”

-“And that's when you realize what the Wagon really is, Lloyd. It's a church with bars on the windows, a church for women and a prison for you.”

-“It was not just Danny the Overlook was working on. It was working on him, too. It wasn't Danny who was the weak link, it was him. He was the vulnerable one, the one who could be bent and twisted until something snapped.”

-“just a moment his own consciousness had plunged through his daddy’s darkness to an incomprehensible word much more frightening than DIVORCE, and that word was SUICIDE.”

THANK YOU SO SO SO MUCH this is so helpful :D
Not sure if you remember, my thread's still up, but yeah this is for the Jekyll and Hyde essay :p
 

GNTLGNT

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THANK YOU SO SO SO MUCH this is so helpful :D
Not sure if you remember, my thread's still up, but yeah this is for the Jekyll and Hyde essay :p
...there are a number of quote sites available if you just punch them into your search bar.....some of them don't attribute the character that said it, but if you know the novel it's a fairly simple thing to figure out....
 
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GNTLGNT

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Jack Torrance: Wendy, let me explain something to you. Whenever you come in here and interrupt me, you're breaking my concentration. You're distracting me. And it will then take me time to get back to where I was. You understand?

Wendy Torrance: Yeah.

Jack Torrance: Now, we're going to make a new rule. When you come in here and you hear me typing

[types]

Jack Torrance: or whether you *don't* hear me typing, or whatever the ****** you hear me doing; when I'm in here, it means that I am working, *that* means don't come in. Now, do you think you can handle that?

Wendy Torrance: Yeah.

Jack Torrance: Good. Now why don't you start right now and get the **** out of here? Hm?
 
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GNTLGNT

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Jack Torrance: What are you doing down here?

Wendy Torrance: [sobbing] I just wanted to talk to you.

Jack Torrance: Okay, let's talk. What do you wanna talk about?

Wendy Torrance: I can't really remember.

Jack Torrance: You can't remember... Maybe it was about... Danny? Maybe it was about him. I think we should discuss Danny. I think we should discuss what should be done with him. What should be done with him?

Wendy Torrance: I don't know.

Jack Torrance: I don't think that's true. I think you have some very definite ideas about what should be done with Danny and I'd like to know what they are.

Wendy Torrance: Well, I think... maybe... he should be taken to a doctor.

Jack Torrance: You think "maybe" he should be taken to a doctor?

Wendy Torrance: Yes.

Jack Torrance: "When" do you think "maybe" he should be taken to a doctor?

Wendy Torrance: As soon as possible.

Jack Torrance: [mocking/imitating her] As soon as possible.

Wendy Torrance: Jack! What are... you...

Jack Torrance: You think his health might be at stake.

Wendy Torrance: Y-Yes!

Jack Torrance: You are concerned about him.

Wendy Torrance: Yes!

Jack Torrance: And are you concerned about *me?*

Wendy Torrance: Of course I am!

Jack Torrance: Of course you are! Have you ever thought about my responsibilities?

Wendy Torrance: Oh Jack, what are you talking about?

Jack Torrance: Have you ever had a *single moment's thought* about my responsibilities? Have you ever thought, for a single solitary moment about my responsibilities to my employers? Has it ever occurred to you that I have agreed to look after the *Overlook* Hotel until May the *first*. Does it *matter to you at all* that the *owners* have placed their *complete confidence* and *trust* in me, and that I have signed a letter of agreement, a *contract*, in which I have accepted that *responsibility?* Do you have the *slightest idea* what a *moral and ethical principal* is? *Do you?* Has it ever occurred to you what would happen to my future, if I were to fail to live up to my responsibilities? Has it ever occurred to you? *Has it?*
 

Neesy

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May 24, 2012
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I know about the incidents such as breaking Danny's arm or attacking George Hatfield, but are there any specific (fairly concise) quotes to suggest that he always had the capacity for evil inside him, and the Overlook just brought it out?
As many as possible would be appreciated lots!!

thank you:)
I am not sure about capacity for evil, but the fact that he and his friend apparently hit a cyclist while drunk was sort of a clue that there was something wrong there.

They put it down to being drunk, but said that all they ever found was a bicycle and no body. I think that was why Jack either quit drinking completely or at least cut back? (I think that was when he went sober).
 

Takoren

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Nov 25, 2015
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First, most of these quotes are from the movie. As this is the novel thread, I would have thought those don't count.

Second, we all have the capacity for evil. We're humans, and none of us are 100% good or 100% bad. Jack Torrance was a deeply scarred man who, as I said on my blog, wants desperately to be a good husband and father, or, more accurately, wants to want it.

The problem is, for too long he wasn't willing to get the help he needed in order to be that man. He was just on the cusp of it being too late before that realization finally hit him, and he still did the stupid thing and went cold turkey with no professional help at all.

Both before and after he got on the wagon, he made excuses for himself, always telling himself that it was okay to just slip a little, just have one drink, just move the debate timer ahead a little, for George's own good, etc., etc.

I don't accept that he was "evil" before the hotel got into him, but flawed? Oh, yes. As are we all. This is why I love the novel and why Jack Torrance might very well be one of King's best characters.
 

GNTLGNT

The idiot is IN
Jun 15, 2007
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Cambridge, Ohio
First, most of these quotes are from the movie. As this is the novel thread, I would have thought those don't count.

Second, we all have the capacity for evil. We're humans, and none of us are 100% good or 100% bad. Jack Torrance was a deeply scarred man who, as I said on my blog, wants desperately to be a good husband and father, or, more accurately, wants to want it.

The problem is, for too long he wasn't willing to get the help he needed in order to be that man. He was just on the cusp of it being too late before that realization finally hit him, and he still did the stupid thing and went cold turkey with no professional help at all.

Both before and after he got on the wagon, he made excuses for himself, always telling himself that it was okay to just slip a little, just have one drink, just move the debate timer ahead a little, for George's own good, etc., etc.

I don't accept that he was "evil" before the hotel got into him, but flawed? Oh, yes. As are we all. This is why I love the novel and why Jack Torrance might very well be one of King's best characters.
....you are correct, and they weren't meant to be represented as coming from the novel...I was simply giving the OP a few idea starters...I also put out near as many from the novel-but hey guess what?...next time you can do the research....
 
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Takoren

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....you are correct, and they weren't meant to be represented as coming from the novel...I was simply giving the OP a few idea starters...I also put out near as many from the novel-but hey guess what?...next time you can do the research....
I didn't say they all came from the movies, just that many did.
 
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Wab

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Oct 29, 2017
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Not evil, just a deeply flawed human being in a very bad place -- physically and mentally. As Stephen once said: "...the book is about Jack Torrance’s gradual descent into madness through the malign influence of the Overlook—if the guy is nuts to begin with, then the entire tragedy of his downfall is wasted."
 
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Hi y’all!! I always felt like Jack wasn’t necessarily evil, but that he was very seriously weak. I’ve always felt like he really wanted to be good, and that if hdidnt, he wouldn’t have loved Danny like he did. Just a thought