A11

 

Jack's literary masterpiece from The Shining.

Humbert Humbert in Lolita. 

To the left of his elbow we see framed an "All" brand box of cleaner.  Though Collative Learning's Rob Ager proposes, interestingly, that "All" in The Shining can be read as "A11" (as in, "A eleven," since the lower-case "l"s look like "1"s in "Courier New" font), there's a funny reference that goes as far back as Lolita that may debunk the idea. 

Is "All" meant to symbolize "A11," as in, Apollo 11? Ager's argument is interesting, but speculative. It asks us to assume that Kubrick coded "All" as "A11" to make a subtle confession regarding the faking of the Moon landing. A master photographer and filmmaker, we are to reason that Kubrick was hired by NASA or the Fed to fake images of the Apollo 11 moon landing. "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy" would be taken to mean "Apollo 11 work and no play makes Jack a dull boy." We have two "l"s in "Apollo" which can render "All" a shortened version of "A(po)ll(o)." Apollo 11 then, is a sort of mirror. Kubrick must mirror Jack, too, with this line of thinking: an artist driven mad by impossible demands placed on him by dark forces. There is no figuring out why Jack has been typing the same 10 words (and 42 characters) hundreds of times. 

Maybe Kubrick helped fake the moon-landing. Or, maybe the interrelated details are placed there to confuse the viewer. This becomes comedic when we consider the All cleaner box behind Humbert Humbert. Again, "Humbert Humbert," the name, is a double, or mirror, just like "11" and "Apollo." Humbert is crafting up a martini for Charlotte Haze, whom he has disappointed. Humbert is yelling up the stairs to Charlotte, telling her that the diary she discovered is a fiction story using the names "Charlotte" and "Lolita" by coincidence. It's a laughably terrible explanation that betrays a darker reality: Humbert is preying upon Lolita, Charlotte's teen daughter. He has been hiding his real identity all along - though he's a professor, he only wants Lolita. Charlotte even tries to seduce him, to no avail. At one point, Humbert locks himself in the bathroom with his diary, writing. His work is all-encompassing, just as his obsession with Lolita and frustration with Charlotte is all-encompassing. 

Also, "All" points to the two "l"s in "Lolita." "ALL" work is "LOLITA" work: Humbert is working to ensnare Lolita. He plans to murder Charlotte, but she rushes into a speeding automobile in the rain, taking it upon herself to end her life. The legal situation is mostly stable. But, Humbert will only work harder on his objective: Lolita. He arrives at Camp Climax to pick up Lolita before the end of summer. He then lies to her about Charlotte, coaxing her into a road-trip that avoids Ramsdale. Lolita eventually succumbs to the flu, and is taken to the hospital, while Humbert recovers on his own in a hotel room. When he discovers Lolita has left the hospital, he is briefly detained by six others following a violent outburst. It could be said Humbert has become "dull" in his pursuit of Lolita. 

All was branded as a dirt-remover and cleaner, as far back as the 1960s. The idea of "dirt-remover" sticks somewhat to Humbert, as Humbert is trying to "come clean" while also hiding real dirt.