One of the most influential and arguably most popular writers of suspense novels of the 21st century, King carries with him all his fears and secrets the terrifying novel The Shining. King unknowingly writes a gothic autobiography while projecting his own life struggles and ideals onto the character Jack from The Shining. It gives Jack his personality, his struggles in life, his fears and his addictions. Jack and King have very similar lifestyles: both were school teachers and also coached the debate team, but they felt trapped and didn't like their jobs as teachers because it took too much time and energy away from writing. Both characters struggle to overcome alcoholism and the fear of not being able to provide for their family. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Stephen King writes The Shining in front of the mirror as he recounts events from his past such as his struggle with alcoholism and fear of being his father and struggle to provide for his family into The Shining and projects his problems, mistakes past and regrets about Jack Torrance. Google Dictionary defines mirrors as “a reflective surface, now typically glass coated with a metal amalgam, that reflects a clear image. " Stephen King does not clearly see himself as Jack's raging, alcoholic father, King unconsciously writes The Shining's main character, Jack, when relating it to his personal life he says that "I was the guy who wrote The Shining without even realizing that I wrote about myself,”. Stephen King uses a gothic mirror while writing about Jack in The Shining, for goths a mirror only represents the negative aspects of their life and this is what Kings does, it gives Jack his worst parts, it gives him the need and desire to do the “bad thing”. "For the Goths a mirror equals a double and a double equals a doppelganger, which is basically an even more evil you, and if you see this doppleganger you have to kill him, because he is evil, Jack is King's doppelganger, as King himself convinces that Jack is worse than him, causing Jack to break Danny's arm or almost kill a child, things that make him better than Jack. These scenes allow King to reduce the guilt he carries by making Jack more evil in an attempt to prove that he is nothing like the violent and abusive Jack Torrance as King's struggles with alcoholism, his fears of becoming his father, and his struggle to provide for his family are all tied into The Shining as he projects his own problems, mistakes. past and regrets about Jack Torrance. Jack addresses many of the problems that Stephen King faced in life. He also connects his thoughts on children and other ideals in this book. During an interview, King talks about the anger he felt towards his children when he was fighting for his life, even though he doesn't act like Jack, King felt years of guilt over the fear of not being able to support his family like Jack does when he imagines "Danny with his arm in a cast" . This data helps support my point about the personal anger and guilt that King puts into Jack and The Shining. The scene in The Shining where Jack breaks Danny's arm is King's way of saying he's not Jack Torrance, it's a way of saying he's not even his father. The same problems and fears that the characters share are related and are even brought forward. in the sequel to The Shining, The Doctor's Sleep, where Danny has grown up and fears turning into his father, just like King and Jack do. Stephen King's father left when he was only about 2.