Stephen King filter: why Tony?
January 2, 2016 12:02 PM Subscribe
In Stephen King's "The Shining," there is a scene earlyish in the book where the parents (Wendy and Jack) take their son to a pediatrician. The doctor is asking them about Danny's imaginary friend Tony. The doctor says...
"And of course you two must understand why Danny’s invisible friend is named Tony instead of Mike or Hal or Dutch.”
“Yes,” Wendy said.
“Have you ever pointed it out to him?”
“No,” Jack said. “Should we?”
What am i missing here? For the life of me, I can't think of any special reason Danny would name his friend Tony. My only guess is Tony the Tiger, but I'm not sure that even existed when the book was written, or why the doctor would find that significant.
This has been tormenting me since the seventh grade. Does anyone know?
"And of course you two must understand why Danny’s invisible friend is named Tony instead of Mike or Hal or Dutch.”
“Yes,” Wendy said.
“Have you ever pointed it out to him?”
“No,” Jack said. “Should we?”
What am i missing here? For the life of me, I can't think of any special reason Danny would name his friend Tony. My only guess is Tony the Tiger, but I'm not sure that even existed when the book was written, or why the doctor would find that significant.
This has been tormenting me since the seventh grade. Does anyone know?
Response by poster: And sometimes, it's just that simple. I love this place!
posted by cakelite at 12:06 PM on January 2, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by cakelite at 12:06 PM on January 2, 2016 [3 favorites]
I can't point out quotes to prove it, but I seem to remember it being alluded to that Tony was his inner self, subconscious, the part where the shining actually comes from... something like that. And since I've read Dr. Sleep, too, some of that impression might even have been from it.
posted by stormyteal at 12:12 PM on January 2, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by stormyteal at 12:12 PM on January 2, 2016 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: Not to be That Guy but I comprehended that Tony is not a separate entity, I just didn't get why his name was Tony!
posted by cakelite at 12:15 PM on January 2, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by cakelite at 12:15 PM on January 2, 2016 [1 favorite]
Danny Torrance @ wikipedia.
IIRC off the top of my head (of course I might not be) it's not specifically pointed out until after the scene you quoted, but it can be deduced because Jack and/or Wendy say something about how Danny was named by continuing a pattern of male Torrance names, and somewhere else early in the book King drops the info that Jack is actually named "John Daniel Torrance", and Jack's father was "Mark Anthony Torrance."
posted by soundguy99 at 12:20 PM on January 2, 2016 [2 favorites]
IIRC off the top of my head (of course I might not be) it's not specifically pointed out until after the scene you quoted, but it can be deduced because Jack and/or Wendy say something about how Danny was named by continuing a pattern of male Torrance names, and somewhere else early in the book King drops the info that Jack is actually named "John Daniel Torrance", and Jack's father was "Mark Anthony Torrance."
posted by soundguy99 at 12:20 PM on January 2, 2016 [2 favorites]
Tony the Tiger was created in 1951. The Shining was published in 77. Interestingly enough, in the movie version of the shining, there are several visible Tony the tigers, and some people have run analysis on that, correlating it with the Tony that lives in his mouth.
posted by Jacen at 6:19 PM on January 2, 2016 [5 favorites]
posted by Jacen at 6:19 PM on January 2, 2016 [5 favorites]
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posted by soundguy99 at 12:04 PM on January 2, 2016 [21 favorites]