Analysis of The Narration in Room by Emma Donoghue

When telling the story of many shocking events, Emma Donoghue offers a simple narration from a child’s perspective. As a child who is completely blinded of the outside world, Jack’s narration views the tragic kidnapping of Ma, as his normality. Room is his whole world, when in reality, it is a place preventing him from it. Throughout the novel, readers can connect with the damaged individuals through Jack’s lack of understanding and isolation, the fear both individuals face while living and escaping the room, and how the power of love and persistence lead them to freedom.

In the beginning of the novel, rather than focusing on Ma’s desperate attempts to escape her current living condition, the narration follows Ma and Jack’s daily domestic routine. In order to cope with their isolation from the outside world, Ma has created a schedule to pretend that their is some form of normality in their life. Although Jack’s childhood has been completely different than most children his age, he has the same innocent, yet illiteracy of how little he actually knows. This is evident on Jack’s fifth birthday as he states, “when I was a little kid I thought like a little kid, but now I’m five and I know everything” (Donoghue 17). With the difference in Jack’s age, he is now able to identify that he has matured and expects his mother to keep teaching him new things. This is ironic in a sense that Jack claims to know everything, yet is truly unprepared for the heartbreaking knowledge he has yet to process. In the article written by Meera Gupta, she explains how parents must observe any changing behavioural patterns in their children, as “some symptoms like isolation, fighting, or nightmares, can be indicators of a need for intervention”. In this case the specific intervention for Ma and Jack is to escape room. It is crucial that Ma and Jack work together in order to remain sane and the idea that Jack thinks he knows everything, is one of the pure examples of how Old Nick, their abductor has completely isolated them from society. Ma was abducted seven years prior to the beginning of the novel and has been held hostage ever since. Old Nick, returns to the Room every night, continuously raping Ma, with Jack hiding in the wardrobe. One night, Old Nick had mentioned that he was going to cut their expenses including food, water, and electricity. This was a significant, yet scary turning point that gave Ma no other option but to introduce Jack to the outside world. However, Jack does not understand the difference between the truth and lying, so Ma therefore has to invent an explanation that will not ruin everything she has tried to protect Jack from. She explains to Jack that “stories are a different kind of truth”, mentally preparing him for the overwhelming information she is about to provide him with. For stories to be a different kind of truth, it means that there is not one simple truth, in fact, there can be many truths in many different forms. Ma begins using the books they have read and the television shows they have watched to slightly make Jack more aware of their situation without frightening him. Ma may not be very successful in educating Jack right away, only with time will he be able to strengthen his understanding of the outside world.

Through Jack’s narration, readers can sense the constant fear both Ma and Jack are stuck living in. When Old Nick returns to room one night, he freaked out on Ma for not appreciating everything he has done for her and Jack. This is an example of his mental state and how after all these years of being an abductor, Old Nick has come to the understanding that it is entirely normal. Jack heard them arguing and came out of the wardrobe causing Old Nick to become even more mad and tried choking Ma to death. Old Nick storms out of Room, leaving Ma and Jack crying themselves back to sleep. Ma reminds Jack “we are going to get out of this place, i promise, we are going to be okay”. As a mother no matter how scared Joy was in that moment, she must comfort Jack and apologize to Old Nick because there is no certainty when or if they will ever be able to escape. Not only are they both frightened by Old Nick, Ma has decided to create an escape plan out of Room involving Jack on his own to get them out. Despite all the emotions running through his head, the scariest worry was that him and Ma would be separated and he would never see her again. It is important to distinguish the difference between actions and feelings at times like these. As Ma prepares Jack for the escape by rolling him in the rug, she comforts him and says “scared is what you are feeling, brave is what you are doing”. As a child, Jack does as he feels, but it is here for the first time that he must attempt to feel one thing, and act on another for a better future. Jack is unaware of what he is about to experience but does it with trust in his Ma, greatly exemplifying an animus. He has taken on a strong roll and has agreed to make a huge sacrifice to escape the room once and for all.

The author presented a realistic, yet uncertain take on Ma and Jack’s freedom. Only with their perseverance and the strong love between them, were they able to follow through with the escape. Although they have escaped and moved into Ma’s parents house, neither Ma or Jack can simply begin their new life away from Old Nick that quickly. They have both been physically and mentally damaged for a long period of their lives and only with time will their horrifying memories be put aside. When Jack became willing to talk to his grandparents he lets them in on a deal Ma and Jack have made between themselves. The deal is this “we are going to try everything once, to see what we like and don’t like, but only when I feel up for it”. A further conclusion of freedom is that Jack was presented with it drastically. For a boy who has grown up surrounded by four single walls, it will take time for him to process that he now has access to an entire world of freedom and choice. As the novel comes to an end, Jack and Ma learn to disregard their old memories and build their new life together. For closure, they decided to visit Room one last time. When they visit it is no longer a jail as they have the choice to leave at their own will. As the two individuals stand by the door, saying goodbye to the room they once called home, Jack narrates “I look back one more time. It’s like a crater, a hole where something happened”. Jack finally understands the need to escape the room and they both say an emotional goodbye. The memories and traumas will forever be a part of them but will be stored in the unconscious mind. Readers can understand the unconscious mind as an iceberg. The important part of the mind is one you cannot see, where our feelings, motives and decisions are stored and influenced by past experiences. The two individuals have achieved the closure they needed to continue on with their lives. Jack has a second chance at being a child and Ma gets another chance at life.

To conclude, readers can see how crucial using Jack as the narrative perspective, contributed to the success of the novel. It is evident that towards the beginning, Jack had no understanding and was completely isolated from the real world. As the novel progressed, Ma and Jack’s living conditions become extremely worse, as Old Nick abused them in many ways. In the end of the novel, due to Jack’s courageous act and love for his Ma, the two strong and wrecked individuals managed to escape and begin their life free from Old Nick, once and for all.