The Hedge-Animal Picture: Symbol Analysis in Billy Summers
What Is the Hedge-Animal Picture?
The hedge-animal picture is a painted depiction of hedges clipped into animal shapes. In the novel, it hangs on the wall of a small log cabin—called the summerhouse—located on Bucky Hanson’s property in Colorado. Billy describes it as a poorly executed work with “greens of the animals too violent” and a dab of red in the lions’ eyes to give them a devilish aspect. The painting shows a dog, rabbits, two lions, and a bull (or possibly a rhinoceros). The summerhouse is situated near where the Overlook Hotel once stood before it burned down. Bucky tells Billy that the picture “used to be in front of the old Overlook” and was in the cabin when he bought the property.
Where the Picture Appears
The picture appears in three key passages across Chapters 18, 22, and 23 (as numbered in the edition). Billy first notices it while setting up his laptop to write in the summerhouse. He takes it down and turns it to face the wall to avoid distraction. Later, when he returns to the cabin after spending time with Bucky and Alice, he finds the picture back on its hook. He takes it down again. Finally, in Chapter 23, Billy returns to the cabin to finish his story and discovers the picture hanging once more; this time he swears the lions are closer and their eyes redder. He asks Bucky if he put it back, but Bucky denies doing so. Alice says she does not even know what Billy is talking about.
How the Picture’s Meaning Changes
The picture starts as a minor aesthetic annoyance—Billy finds it ugly and distracting. But as it reappears, it becomes something more sinister. The fact that it returns to the wall without human intervention suggests a supernatural agency. Its shifting configuration, with the lions moving forward, implies an active malevolence. This aligns with the Overlook Hotel’s history in Stephen King’s The Shining: the hotel was built on a Native American burial ground and became a nexus of evil. The hedge-animal picture may serve as a lingering fragment of that evil, a “hot spot” that persists even after the hotel’s destruction.
The change in the picture also mirrors Billy’s deepening psychological engagement with his past. While writing his autobiography in the cabin, Billy confronts memories of the Iraq War, particularly the death of his squad in the Funhouse. The picture’s transformation from a static image into a dynamic threat parallels Billy’s difficulty in containing his trauma. The more he writes, the more the past intrudes.
Character and Theme Connections
Billy Summers – Billy is disturbed by the picture and goes out of his way to remove it. His unease suggests a subconscious recognition of the picture’s connection to death and unresolved guilt. He associates the picture with the “cold” feeling of the cabin, which he needs to write. The picture becomes a test of his ability to focus despite distraction.
Alice Maxwell – Alice never sees the picture, which reinforces that the phenomenon may be part of Billy’s subjective experience—a hallucination or a supernatural presence only he can perceive. When Billy asks if she put it back up, she says, “I don’t even know what you’re talking about.”
Bucky Hanson – Bucky admits the picture was in the cabin when he bought it and links it to the Overlook. He does not go up to the cabin much because it “always seems cold.” His attitude implies a tacit awareness that the place is haunted.
Theme of Trauma and Memory – The picture functions as a visual trigger for Billy’s horrific wartime memories. Its recurrence forces him to confront the past while he tries to write himself free. The picture’s refusal to stay face-down parallels the way trauma resists suppression.
Theme of Redemption and Second Chances – Billy hopes his story will bring him redemption. Yet the persistent, sinister presence of the picture suggests that some stains—like the Overlook’s evil or the lives Billy has taken—cannot be cleansed simply by telling one’s story.
Theme of Storytelling as Therapy – Billy writes in the very cabin where the picture hangs. The act of writing becomes a way to contain the terror, but the picture’s autonomous behavior undermines the notion that narrative can fully heal.
Theme of Identity and Disguise – The hedge animals are literally disguised bushes, carved into shapes that seem friendly but actually hide a menacing nature. This mirrors Billy’s own life: he poses as a simpleminded writer (David Lockridge) while being a trained assassin. The picture’s art is a “poorly executed” disguise, just as Billy’s disguises are imperfect.
Theme of Violence and Moral Ambiguity – The red-eyed lions are predators. They evoke the predatory aspects of Billy’s profession. The picture’s placement in the cabin, where Billy writes about his violent past, connects the artist’s violence (the painter’s red eyes) to the violence in Billy’s story.
Study Questions with Answers
1. Where does the hedge-animal picture originate, and why is that significant? The picture originally hung in front of the Overlook Hotel, as explained by Bucky. The Overlook is famously a haunted site in The Shining, built on a burial ground and saturated with evil. By placing this picture in the Colorado cabin, King links Billy’s story to that larger supernatural universe, suggesting that the evil of the Overlook persists and can attach itself to other places. The picture functions as a remnant of that malevolent force.
2. What evidence suggests the picture changes or moves on its own? Billy takes the picture down twice, yet it reappears on the wall. When he returns to the cabin in Chapter 23, he “could swear that the lions are closer now, their eyes redder.” He insists that “pictures don’t change” but cannot rationalize the shift. The fact that neither Bucky nor Alice claims to have moved it supports the idea that the picture is animated by supernatural agency.
3. How does the picture relate to Billy’s psychological state while writing? Billy writes his autobiography in the cabin, reliving traumatic combat memories. The picture’s unsettling presence mirrors his internal turmoil. Initially, Billy removes it to focus, but it keeps returning, just as his traumatic memories keep surfacing. The picture’s increasingly menacing appearance—the lions drawing closer—reflects his growing anxiety as he gets closer to the most painful parts of his story.
4. How does the hedge-animal picture connect the novel to The Shining? The Shining features topiary animals that come to life and attack characters in the Overlook’s hedge maze. The picture in Billy Summers shows similar hedge animals—rabbits, dogs, lions—with red eyes that suggest demonic life. While the picture does not physically attack Billy, its supernatural behavior (moving, returning) echoes the topiary’s animation. Furthermore, the Overlook’s destruction in The Shining did not erase its evil; the picture serves as a lingering echo of that evil, linking the two works in King’s fictional universe.