The Shining: Describe The Setting Of The Novel

My novel is The Shining by Stephen King. The setting of this book is a hotel in the 1980's. The family is living there for the winter because the dad is the caretaker. It is called The Overlook because the hotel is in the mountains and overlooks the scenery in the mountains. An example from the book describing the scenery seen from the road near the hotel is, "They were standing near the top of one peak. Across from them- who knew how far?- an even taller mountain reared into the ski, its jagged tip only a silhouette that was now nimbused by the sun, which was beginning its decline. The whole valley floor was spread out below them..."(King 63) This is a description of the view from a stop in the road below the hotel. The scenery is the main reason the hotel is so popular despite it's  history of crime and death there.

Another important aspect of the setting is how they are isolated The closest thing to the hotel is a small town awhile away and is down a steep mountain. The next major city is even farther. This shows how if there is any trouble at the hotel it might take awhile to get help. This causes the parents to be very overprotective of Danny. It also means that the only thing that the kid, Danny, can do is explore in and around the hotel.

Another thing about the setting is the climate. Part of the build up for the climax is that there will be tons of snow in the winter. This will make it hard for them to leave the hotel, let alone get down the mountain to the nearest town. It also means the phone lines and such are down, meaning they can't call anyone for help. Even if they can call for help, people won't be able to get up to the mountain to them. This all adds up to show that because of the setting of this novel they are isolated from other people and unable to leave the hotel.

Overall the setting of this book and it's attributes are very important to the plot and help cause conflict later on in the book.