Room is the story of survival with the message never to lose hope. Perhaps its effects are enhanced because of the narration from the eyes of a five year old. Room is heart breaking and very disturbing in every way possible. Even more poignantly captured is the dilemma the mother faces on escaping when her son, unaccustomed to interactions with other people yearns to go back to the Room and wants to regain her undivided attention.
Her frustration at making Jack agree to an escape is beautifully captured. The mother loathes Room, Jack being born into it and having no contact with any other living person, loves it and does not feel trapped. “In the world I notice persons are nearly always stressed and have no time…I don’t know how persons with jobs do the jobs and all the living as well…I guess the time gets spread very thin like butter all over the world, the roads and houses and playgrounds and stores, so there’s only a little smear of time on each place, then everyone has to hurry on to the next bit.” Emma has successfully navigated through both these limitations, of lack of maturity of the narrator and physical size of the environment, to deliver a stunning story. The limited dimension of a garden shed, where Jack and his mother live (or are forcefully kept hidden) makes the writing in Room a brave attempt. Through simple dialogues, eavesdropping and a child’s thoughts, Donoghue prises open the horrifying happenings in the Room.Įmma Donoghue’s choice of Jack, a five year old boy as the narrator is perhaps the strongest point of her work. When Jack innocently counts how many times the bed springs creak when Old Nick visits them, our stomachs churn at the prospect of a helpless woman getting raped very close to her child. Through his innocence we are presented the terrible situation in Room. The world is innocent and bright in the eyes of Jack, having fun playing, reading, exercising with his mom and watching TV in Room. Jack’s world consists of his mother, himself, the inanimate objects such as Chair, Table, Rug etc in the room and Old Nick who visits them and brings food.
Jack and his mother live in a room which has all the bare necessities to stay alive. Or rather, read the book too, because of the detailed narration through the eyes of a five year old. And I do think it is a brilliant adaptation, so feel free to take the easy way out by watching it. I glanced through the book recently to see whether the movie depicts the harsh realities in the book. But perhaps a review of the book is necessary along with the movie’s release. Emma Donoghue explores the psychological implications on the mind of a child born and raised in captivity, as a result of which he cannot comprehend the idea of an outside world and a mother’s struggle to escape from their abductor. Room is the story of a mother and child confined to a locked garden shed.
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