Well... I'd be lying if I said this book didn't escalate quickly. One page Ma and Jack are playing with Egg Snake (eggshells tied together with string) and the next they are faking Jack's death to escape Room. Yeah... I know.
Throughout this next chapter (the book is organized into 5 long chapters) Jack and Ma go through many emotional changes, and each day is completely new from the last. One part of the life that Ma lives in Room was revealed to be domestic violence. 1 in 3 women and 1 in 4 men are victims of domestic violence in their lifetime. Throughout this chapter, it is revealed that Ma was kidnapped by Old Nick when she was 19 years old, and has been locked in room ever since. Because the only person she has had contact with is Old Nick, it can be inferred that Jack is a child that Ma and Old Nick had together.
Whenever Old Nick visits Room he and Ma sleep together, something Jack is too young to understand but the reader can infer. One night Jack's remote-controlled car, a present from Old Nick for his fifth birthday, falls off of the wardrobe. This angers Old Nick and he assumes that Ma was trying to hurt him. Because Jack is in the wardrobe, the reader does not have a distinct idea of what happens after that, but the next morning "...we're eating oatmeal and I see marks... I think Old Nick put those marks on her neck." (Donoghue 53). Ma's neck is bruised and her voice is scratchy, due to her being choked by Old Nick. Over the next few days Ma's bruises from his fingerprints start to heal but Jack gets increasingly angrier.
This book brings up many pertinent issues that have lasted for decades; kidnapping and domestic violence being the biggest so far. I find that the author's choice to do this is impressive; as it is one thing to tackle difficult topics through an informed narrator, but another to do so through the eyes of a five year old. I am interested to see what will happen next in the book as, by the end of the chapter, Jack and Ma have escaped Room. Where will they go?
Throughout this next chapter (the book is organized into 5 long chapters) Jack and Ma go through many emotional changes, and each day is completely new from the last. One part of the life that Ma lives in Room was revealed to be domestic violence. 1 in 3 women and 1 in 4 men are victims of domestic violence in their lifetime. Throughout this chapter, it is revealed that Ma was kidnapped by Old Nick when she was 19 years old, and has been locked in room ever since. Because the only person she has had contact with is Old Nick, it can be inferred that Jack is a child that Ma and Old Nick had together.
Whenever Old Nick visits Room he and Ma sleep together, something Jack is too young to understand but the reader can infer. One night Jack's remote-controlled car, a present from Old Nick for his fifth birthday, falls off of the wardrobe. This angers Old Nick and he assumes that Ma was trying to hurt him. Because Jack is in the wardrobe, the reader does not have a distinct idea of what happens after that, but the next morning "...we're eating oatmeal and I see marks... I think Old Nick put those marks on her neck." (Donoghue 53). Ma's neck is bruised and her voice is scratchy, due to her being choked by Old Nick. Over the next few days Ma's bruises from his fingerprints start to heal but Jack gets increasingly angrier.
This book brings up many pertinent issues that have lasted for decades; kidnapping and domestic violence being the biggest so far. I find that the author's choice to do this is impressive; as it is one thing to tackle difficult topics through an informed narrator, but another to do so through the eyes of a five year old. I am interested to see what will happen next in the book as, by the end of the chapter, Jack and Ma have escaped Room. Where will they go?
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