Topic > Narration Analysis in Emma Donoghue's Room

When telling the story of many shocking events, Emma Donoghue offers a simple narrative from a child's point of view. As a child completely blind to the outside world, Jack's narrative sees Ma's tragic kidnapping as his normality. The room is his whole world, when in reality it is a place that prevents him from doing so. Throughout the novel, readers can connect with the damaged individuals through Jack's lack of understanding and isolation, the fear both individuals face as they live in and escape the room, and how the power of love and tenacity leads them to freedom. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay At the beginning of the novel, instead of focusing on Ma's desperate attempts to escape her current living situation, the narrative follows Ma and Jack's daily home life. routine. To cope with their isolation from the outside world, Ma created a program to pretend there is some form of normality in their lives. Although Jack's childhood was completely different from that of most children his age, he has the same innocent but illiteracy of how little he actually knows. This is evident on Jack's fifth birthday as he states, "When I was a little boy I thought like a little boy, but now I'm five and I know everything" (Donoghue 17). With the age difference, Jack is now able to realize that he has matured and expects his mother to continue to teach him new things. This is ironic in the sense that Jack claims to know everything, but is truly unprepared for the harrowing knowledge he has yet to process. In the article written by Meera Gupta, she explains how parents should observe any changes in their children's behavioral patterns, as "certain symptoms such as isolation, arguments or nightmares, may be indicators of the need for intervention." In this case the specific intervention for Ma and Jack is to escape the room. It is crucial that Ma and Jack work together to stay sane and the idea that Jack thinks he knows everything is one of the pure examples of how Old Nick, their captor, has completely isolated them from society. But she was kidnapped seven years before the novel begins and has been held hostage ever since. Old Nick, comes back to the room every night, continually raping mom, with Jack hiding in the closet. One night, old Nick had said he would cut their expenses, including food, water and electricity. This was a significant, yet scary, turning point that gave Ma no choice but to introduce Jack to the outside world. However, Jack doesn't understand the difference between the truth and a lie, so Ma has to come up with an explanation that doesn't ruin everything she tried to protect Jack from. She explains to Jack that "stories are a different kind of truth," mentally preparing him for the overwhelming information she's about to give him. For stories to be a different kind of truth, it means that there is no simple truth, in fact, there can be many truths in many different forms. Mom begins using the books they've read and the television shows they've watched to make Jack a little more aware of their situation without scaring him. Mom may not be very successful in educating Jack right away, only with time will he be able to strengthen his understanding of the outside world. Through Jack's narration, readers can sense the constant fear that both Mom and Jack are stuck living in. When old Nick comes back to the room one night, he's freaked out at Mom for not appreciating everything she's done for her and Jack. This is a.