Room By Emma Donogue: The Struggle From A Child’s Perspective
Imagine spending the first five years of your childhood in a garden shed with no windows, no human interaction other than your mother and no knowledge of a world other than that inside of the shed. Room is a book written by Emma Donogue. The book is mainly set within a garden shed and then later in the real world. We enter the book strongly planted within these restrictions. We know only what Jack knows, and the drama is immediate, as is our sense of disorientation over why these characters are living in this shed.
The story describes the life of the two protagonists; a young girl (whom we know as Ma) who was kidnapped when she was a teenager and her son, Jack, who is a result of her rape. Ma was kidnapped and raped by a man whom we refer to as Old Nick. The narrator of this story is a five-year-old boy, Jack. The writing is simple and easy to understand as Room is from the perspective from a child. This allows for us to relate and easily understand the struggle from a child’s perspective.
Jack and Ma are held captive by Old Nick in a garden shed which they refer to as room. In the sound proof shed, there are no windows, however, there is a skylight which proves that there is a world outside of room, yet always remains out of reach; it serves as a constant reminder of Ma’s captivity. Ma creates a world within the shed and tries to make it as interesting and fun as she can for her son. At the same time, she educates him and sets boundaries; an example of one of the boundaries she sets is that Ma doesn’t allow Jack to watch TV for too long as she tells him it will rot his brain cells. Jack thinks room is the whole world, he has lived there his whole life and Ma has made up logical scenarios and explanations as to why they are in Room. He makes friends with objects like spoons and mats because of his loneliness.
Ma is extremely protective over Jack as he is all she has, so she does not allow Old Nick near him. She attempted to escape twice but it didn’t end well for her so she allows fear to take over and does not try to escape again. When jack turns 5, Ma tells him the truth about room and the real story about why they are there. He is immediately upset and confused and believes she is lying. He is just a five year old child, however, goes along with the plan and eventually escapes from Room and saves his mother.
The second half of the book is set in the real world. We are introduced to more characters like ma’s family, Dr Clay and Nurse Noreen. Jack is an optimistic young boy who is literate and intelligent even though he has never been to school or been around people other than Ma. Once ma and jack escape, that struggle to adapt to the real world. They are both emotionally scarred, and physically damaged. Jack can’t process the possibility of having access to an entire world of freedom as room was all he knew. It is clear that room is a prison for Ma and haven for Jack as it was all he knew. Isolation is one of the most obvious themes in Room. Ma is isolated against her will; however, Emma does not focus on Ma’s desperate attempts at escaping room but rather the way she handles the situation and copes with isolation. She creates schedules in order to give her life some sort of routine. Jack is isolated from the real world and real people. He deals with isolation by creating friends out of objects in Room. hope is one of the most beautiful themes in room. It is clear that Ma would do anything to keep Jack safe and wants to escape to give him a life he deserves. She has hope they will get out and puts plans into place. When they do escape, it shows us that even in darkness, there is also light. When ma and jack escape room, it is also revealed that Ma’s mother never gave up on hope that Ma was still alive.
Room tells the story of how many girls are kidnapped and locked away similar to Ma. It shows how far a mother will go to protect her children and even though she raped and went through physical abuse, they got out. It reminds readers who have been through similar circumstances that even in tragedy there is hope. I recommend this book to anyone from the age of 15 as it easy to read but it does require a mature reader especially if you are quite emotional. If you can handle the themes of abduction and it’s references to rape, it is amazing as it teaches you to be grateful for what you have and to also be more aware of the struggles that women face today. I feel this book is also very relevant as child trafficking and kidnapping has increased this year and it is important to be aware of this.
