Room

Have you ever felt trapped in a certain place that you can go in but never escape? Were you ever in love with a specific thing? For example, someone special, or maybe the inside of a shed. “Room” is a very interesting book because as a reader, you will be able to witness eclectic thoughts of what a mother and a son thinks about their world. “Room” comes from the point of view of a five-year-old child explaining about his world with bits and pieces of his mother’s as well. The mother and son are trapped in room, but what exactly is it? Room is just an 11-by-11 foot shed fabricated with wood and the insides filled with a tv, bed, fridge, table, etc. It’s basically a living room, bedroom, kitchen, and bathroom overflowing in a single room.

This is a non placid story. You don’t ever feel calm reading “room”. To me, I feel I’m reading the book in the actual room, and seeing the characters do their sudden movements. This is a unique book to read because it helps me and you as the reader, visualize living in that single space. Basically having that feeling reading or actually living inside a jail cell by yourself, or at least with one person. As a reader you definitely will have a chilly feeling go through your body giving you goosebumps. The book also helps give a first person point of view of the main character walking, running, or doing nothing around room. For example the character is sleeping, what does he feel? Is he sleeping on a bed, on the floor, or maybe on the wall? From the first person point view you might read inadequate grammar, but you can picture the character’s action, and maybe his emotions. If you can not pull out key words, then you will not be able to figure out the action or emotion. While I was reading “room” I was able to know, see, feel what the characters are doing. It will not be hard for you to figure it out as well.

This story was written by none other than Emma Donoghue. Emma is an irish-writer that actually lives in Canada.  She has published six books of fiction, two works of literary history, two anthologies, and two plays. I recently emailed Emma to get her thoughts about the book she wrote. I asked her “what inspired you to write in the point of view of a five year old child, and to write a bone chilling experience about two people living in the conditions of just one single room?” Unfortunately, Emma didn’t send a response back to me. In my opinion, I think what made Emma Donoghue write this, was to show us another way of a lifestyle, in a certain living condition. What I mean is that what does this person actually have to do with their life, and how will they live? Room is a great example because the mother and the son in the book have to deal with one single room every day.

The main character of this story tells us the whole story from his point of view. His name is Jack. Jack just turned five years old when the book started and is five throughout the whole book. He is just a normal little kid with a big opened mind, because he is always watching tv, coloring, hanging with his mother, but there is just one problem. He doesn’t know he is trapped in room. To Jack, room is his best friend, because that's his actual world. He is in love with room, which makes him not want to leave it. Well basically he can’t leave room because there is a passcode lock on the door. Jack likes everything he does in room, especially when he sleeps in the wardrobe. Jack sleeps in there to stay away from Old Nick, even though he wants to see what he looks like. Jack is always curious but his mother wouldn’t let him see Old Nick.

Jack’s mother has been trapped in room since she was 19 years old. Old Nick was the one who trapped mom in there. You will find out more details in the book, when you the reader actually read it. Jack’s mother has actually seen the world, before she was put in there. Basically Jack’s mother had a nice life until this situation happened. No one knows what happen to her. So his mother has been dying to go back out there into the world, instead of seeing 11-by-11 foot walls everyday for the rest of her life. The big issue was that Old Nick only knows the passcode to the door. Mother has tried so many times to escape, but she never won. Throughout the story she tries her best to persuade Jack that room isn’t his world, since Jack only truly knows about room. There is actually a world out there filled with more living things and nonliving things instead of what is seen inside a 11-by-11 foot shed. For example Jack knows what a tree is, but he never saw it in real life. He only sees it in the little television monitor in the room.