“Close your eyes … it will be gone”

“Close your eyes … it will be gone” is Dick Hallorann’s practical counsel to Dan Torrance when frightening things appear. The advice turns an earlier lesson into an action Dan can take in the moment: he closes his eyes, gathers courage, and opens them to find the disturbing scene gone.

The Advice and Its Return

Hallorann had taught Dan that, when he saw something bad, he could close his eyes, tell himself it was not there, and look again. Later, in a frightening encounter, Hallorann’s voice returns to Dan as a reminder that the things he sees are like pictures in a book. It also recalls that Dan was not helpless as a child in the Overlook Hotel and is not helpless now. The remembered advice links present danger to an earlier source of guidance, making the lesson an available tool rather than a reassurance from the past alone.

Putting the Lesson into Practice

Dan summons his courage and opens his eyes. The tub and washbasin are empty, and nothing remains written on the mirror. The scene gives the advice a concrete result: after Dan follows Hallorann’s instruction, the threatening images are gone. His courage matters as part of that sequence; the counsel offers a way to confront what he sees rather than leaving him passive before it.

Meaning and Function

The expression joins perception to agency. Closing the eyes interrupts the immediate force of the frightening images, while opening them again tests whether those images remain. In Dan’s experience, Hallorann’s lesson is more than a general maxim: it is remembered guidance that helps him face a frightening moment and discover that he is not helpless.