Room.

Room. 

By Steph

*Potential Small Spoilers

*Implied References of Sexual Violence

 

Room is eleven feet both ways. Table is three feet nine inches. You are three feet three inches, and today you are 5 years old. It’s your birthday. Ma gives you a drawing, but she doesn’t want Old Nick to see it so it hangs inside of Wardrobe. Today you have cereal with Meltedy Spoon and Table, while it snows today in Outside. You and Ma do Phys Ed on Carpet and play Orchestra with a spoon and Stove. Then Ma reads you a book. You love reading Dylan the Digger, even though cats and rocks are only TV. Sometimes you wish the stuff on TV was real life, because then you could see a dog and a store and mountains and girls and boys and Women and Men. Ma and Old Nick are real though, but you aren’t even sure if Old Nick is really real. He only comes for Sundaytreat and night, when you have to go in the Wardrobe. 

You like to count when Ma and Old Nick are on the Duvet, when you’re in the Wardrobe. Today old Nick creaks Bed 217 times, and then it’s all quiet. Old Nick ate your birthday cake, and Ma didn’t tell Old Nick it was your birthday, but it’s ok, because tomorrow you get a jeep. But then the remote breaks, and now Ma’s sad but Old Nick left so you sleep with Ma in Duvet today. The next day Ma is dirty on her neck, but the dirty isn’t dirt, and Ma told you she doesn’t want you waking up Old Nick again. 

It’s been some days but Ma keeps bothering you about leaving Room. You don’t want to leave Room. You don’t know why Ma wants you to leave, but she keeps saying TV things like family and the hammock and that Outside exists. It makes you angry because Ma is lying to you, because when you look through Skylight there are no horses or trains or bunnies or ice cream. 

But you have lots of friends in Room. Why would you want to go Outside? You have Meltedy Spoon, Spider, Dora and Boots, Spongebob, Plant, Eggsnake, and Mouse.

 

***

 You are Jack, and you are the narrator of the novel Room by Emma Donoghue. The book follows the narrative of Jack, a 5 year old boy, living with his mother in a garden shed. Inspired by the true story of Elisabeth Fritzl, a woman held captive by her father for 24 years,  Donoghue explores the darker sides of human nature. She doesn’t shy away from themes like rape, violence, and suicide, so if you feel uncomfortable reading about those topics, I don’t recommend this book. 

8 years ago, Jack’s unnamed mother was abducted by a man, dubbed “Old Nick” by Jack, and held hostage in a locked garden shed. She tried multiple times to escape, but to no avail. 5 years later, she gives birth to Jack, due to the constant sexual abuse she suffers from her kidnapper. Although Jack is a product of violence, the mother loves Jack, and he grows up sheltered from the outside world and protected by “Old Nick”. He believes most things he sees on the TV are fake, and grows up believing the entire world consists of Room, what he calls the space inside the garden shed. 

However, what gives Room a special twist is the usage of perspective in the novel. Donoghue tells the story through the point of view of Jack, a child. In many books, using a kid’s narration is typically not preferred, simply because it’s hard to relate to and understand a child’s thoughts. Yet, the naïve and innocent tone of the novel set by Jack’s voice, juxtaposed with such a horrifying and inhuman situation gives readers a whole unnerving experience. 

In many instances, important information is only implied through Jack’s words, and the reader must read through the lines. Donoghue doesn’t outright explain the setting of the story, or plot at all. We as readers only know as much as Jack does—and what Jack doesn’t fully understand. The actual implications of Jack and his mother’s circumstances is slowly pieced together by Donoghue’s carefully placed context clues. 

    Learn More: Elisabeth Fritzl Case