Was the word redrum ever fully revealed in the novel?

Question

I don't think I was specific enough with my last question. What I wanted to know was whether the word redrum was ever fully explained in the novel itself or not. The scene from The Shining where Wendy looks in the mirror redrum as murder is quite different from the novel.

Answer 1

Best Answer - Chosen by Voters

If I remember correctly, the way it was explained in the novel was that Danny kept hearing "redrum" in his dreams, and seeing writing, but he didn't yet know how to read and couldn't tell what it was.

Later in the book, after he had learned to read, he had the "redrum" dream again, saw the word reversed in a mirror, and because he now knew how to read, he knew that it meant "murder."

Answer 2

Yes. (And really, looking at it the way it was printed in the book, in that kids' scrawl type of print, you could tell how it would read backwards.)

Answer 3

Well, you can kind of tell what it means without having to be told, can't you?