Jack attacks Wendy with a roque mallet

Jack Torrance attacks Wendy Torrance with a roque mallet in the lobby of the Overlook Hotel, a brutal assault that represents the hotel's complete possession of Jack and the violent collapse of the Torrance family. The attack is the culmination of Jack's psychological deterioration under the hotel's influence, his relapse into alcoholism, and his surrender to the malevolent forces that have been manipulating him throughout the winter. Wendy, fighting for her life and her son Danny's survival, stabs Jack in self-defense, but the assault leaves her severely injured and marks the point of no return in the family's struggle against the hotel.

Background and Causes

The attack is the direct result of Jack's progressive possession by the Overlook Hotel. Throughout the winter, the hotel has been working on Jack, exploiting his vulnerabilities: his history of alcoholism, his violent temper, his deep-seated resentment toward his family, and his desperate need for validation. The hotel has been feeding Jack's ego, promising him a position of power and access to its secrets, while simultaneously turning him against his wife and son. Earlier that day, Jack had been freed from the pantry where Wendy had locked him, and he had retrieved a roque mallet from the equipment shed. He had also been drinking heavily, having hallucinated a fully stocked bar in the Colorado Lounge where he had multiple imaginary drinks with a phantom bartender named Lloyd. The hotel had used Grady, the ghost of the previous caretaker, to manipulate Jack, convincing him that his family was conspiring against him and that he needed to "correct" them harshly. Jack's own history of violence—breaking Danny's arm, beating George Hatfield, and his father's abuse—made him susceptible to the hotel's influence. The hotel's ultimate goal was to absorb Danny's psychic power, and Jack was its instrument.

The Assault

Wendy, having heard the party sounds and the elevator running by itself, had gone downstairs to check on Jack, carrying a kitchen knife for protection. She found him in the Colorado Lounge, drunk and belligerent. He grabbed her ankle, pulled her down, and began choking her, shouting that she and Danny had plotted against him. Danny, who had been sleeping, woke up and ran downstairs, jumping on Jack's back to try to stop him. Jack cuffed Danny away, sending him crashing into the empty shelves. As Wendy was losing consciousness, her hand touched a straw-wrapped wine bottle used as a decorative candleholder. With her last strength, she brought it down on Jack's head, shattering it and knocking him unconscious. She then dragged him to the pantry and locked him in. However, the hotel, through Grady, freed Jack, and he retrieved the roque mallet. When Wendy came downstairs again to check on him, he was waiting for her in the lobby. He attacked her with the mallet, striking her in the stomach, side, and leg, breaking her ribs and causing severe injuries. He chased her up the stairs, beating her repeatedly. Wendy, desperate, managed to stab him in the lower back with the kitchen knife, driving it in up to the handle. Jack screamed, but did not fall. He continued to pursue her, the knife still protruding from his back, as she crawled toward the bedroom.

Consequences and Aftermath

The attack leaves Wendy with three broken ribs, a shattered vertebra, a badly injured leg, and a grazed ear. She is barely able to move, but she manages to lock herself and Danny in the bathroom. Jack, still possessed, breaks through the bedroom door and begins demolishing the bathroom door with the mallet. Wendy, using a razor blade from the medicine cabinet, slashes at his hand when he reaches for the lock, driving him back. The attack is interrupted by the sound of Dick Hallorann's snowmobile arriving outside. Jack, enraged, leaves the apartment to confront Hallorann, whom he knocks unconscious with the mallet. The attack marks the point where Jack is completely lost to the hotel. He is no longer a man but a vessel for the hotel's malevolence. Wendy, though severely injured, survives and is eventually rescued. The attack also sets the stage for the final confrontation between Danny and the possessed Jack on the third floor, where Danny uses his wits to trick Jack into going down to the basement to check the boiler, leading to the hotel's destruction. The attack is a direct consequence of Jack's alcoholism and his history of violence, which the hotel exploited to turn him into a murderer. It also reflects the hotel's power to amplify and distort human weaknesses, turning a man's love for his family into a weapon against them.