Jack's phone call to Ullman

Jack Torrance's phone call to Stuart Ullman, placed from a drugstore booth in Sidewinder on November 7, marks a decisive rupture in his relationship with the hotel's management and a critical step in his psychological entanglement with the Overlook. Having spent weeks sifting through old records and discovering a scrapbook detailing the hotel's history of Mafia ownership, gangland murder, and scandal, Jack is driven by a mixture of righteous indignation and a desire to expose the hypocrisy of the man who had humiliated him during his job interview. The call, which he makes without telling his wife Wendy, is an act of defiance that nearly destroys the fragile security of his family's position.

Causes and Background

The call is the culmination of Jack's obsessive research into the Overlook's past. After finding a white leather scrapbook in the basement, he has spent hours in the Sidewinder Public Library, using a microfilm reader to trace the hotel's ownership through dummy corporations linked to Horace Derwent and Las Vegas crime figures like Vito Gienelli, who was murdered in the Presidential Suite in 1966. Jack's motivation is partly intellectual—he is fascinated by the hotel's history and considers writing a book about it—but it is also deeply personal. He resents the way Ullman treated him during the interview, dragging out his past as an alcoholic and a man who lost his temper and beat a student. Jack feels that Ullman, who presented the Overlook as a pristine institution, has been dishonest by omitting its sordid past. The call is an attempt to redress that imbalance, to assert his own worth by exposing the manager's hypocrisy.

What Happens

Jack dials the Surf-Sand Resort in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, where Ullman works during the off-season. When Ullman comes on the line, Jack immediately launches into an aggressive recitation of the hotel's hidden history, mentioning Derwent's sale to Las Vegas interests, the Mafia key club, and the subsequent scandal involving a U.S. senator's death. Ullman is shocked and defensive, calling Jack's accusations "vicious, damnable lies." The argument escalates rapidly. Jack accuses Ullman of not playing square with him, while Ullman threatens to fire him. Jack, in turn, reminds Ullman that Al Shockley, a powerful friend and the largest stockholder, got him the job. The conversation reaches a climax when Jack screams, "It's not your hotel!" and slams the receiver down. The call ends with Jack feeling a mixture of exhilaration and dread, realizing he may have jeopardized everything.

Consequences and Aftermath

The immediate consequence is a phone call from Al Shockley, who has been contacted by an enraged Ullman. Shockley pressures Jack to abandon his plans to write a book about the hotel, demanding a promise on his word of honor. Jack, feeling trapped and humiliated, agrees, but the experience deepens his resentment and his sense of being controlled by forces beyond his control. The call also marks a turning point in Jack's relationship with the Overlook itself. His confrontation with Ullman, rather than freeing him, seems to bind him more tightly to the hotel. He begins to experience hallucinations—the hedge animals moving, the bar in the Colorado Lounge fully stocked—and his drinking symptoms return, even though he remains sober. The call is the moment when Jack's rational, rebellious self begins to be subsumed by the hotel's malevolent will, setting the stage for his eventual possession and the novel's violent climax.