Blog Post #25: Room

          I am currently reading the book Room by Emma Donoghue. I'm still all the way in the beginning, but I have already noticed some issues/ themes occurring. The book takes place in, I believe a basement or some other small compact room. We get introduced to Jack, 5, and his mother (Ma). One issue I already see is imprisonment. I can tell that Jack and Ma are locked up in Room because Ma tells Jack about when he was born on the rug in the Room. On page 7, they compare each others' features and Jack says how his hair goes all the way down to his middle, while Ma's hair is just on her shoulders. It implies that Jack has not cut his hair in forever, but it makes me wonder then, how does Jack's mom have her hair short like that? I already feel bad for Jack because he's so I guess, "pure". He's young so he doesn't know what's going on around him, why he's imprisoned in the Room.
         
          I also noticed how the author, or rather Jack capitalizes certain words, such as Room. Table, Wardrobe, Bed, Shelf, etc. Jack's mother though, doesn't have any of that capitalized when she's speaking. I find this interesting because it may show something about Jack. It can show that the things around him have a significant connection to him, or he likes to think of them as I guess, his "friends". For example, on page 6, he said he "stroked Table's scratches to make them better.." You might think that it's just the behavior of a 5 year old, and maybe it is, but the fact that those words are capitalized, it stands out to me.

          I don't know much about Ma either, but from what she says/ does, I can make an inference. As a kid with curiosity, Jack asks a lot of questions, such as "was I minus numbers?" and "will my nose fall off and an adult nose grow?". I noticed that his mother is very willing to answer questions and wants to help Jack know. I also get the sense that she's a gently woman. She has kind words and she brings knowledge into Jack's mind. At the same time though, I feel that her being gentle is a disadvantage to her because of the very fact of where she is right now: imprisoned inside a Room. Of course, I don't know the background yet of her imprisonment, for example why she's in there, but I also got a hint of who maybe put them in there: a man named Old Nick. On page 5 on the bottom, Jack wants to hang up a picture that Ma drew for him. But she shakes her head no, and says "not there." Then Jack simply says, "she doesn't want Old Nick to see." It makes me wonder who exactly Old Nick is, why Jack has decided to call him that, what Jack thinks of him, and etc.

         I am already interested in this book, because it presents some interesting issues/ themes. I want to find out more about the characters and their imprisonment. This book also reminds me of the book The Boy in the Basement. I read that book in 7th grade as a class and it was about a teenage boy who has been imprisoned in a basement for many years. I feel that both mother's in both books are similar, except the mother in The Boy in the Basement was not trapped with the boy. I find them similar because they both seem to remind me of women who stay in abusive relationships (not necessarily the women who stay in those relationships).