Room

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2010

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Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Chapter 2Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 2, Pages 53-64 Summary: “Unlying”

The next morning, Ma’s neck is bruised from Old Nick. Old Nick thought Ma was attacking him. While watching Dora the Explorer, Jack speculates about what is and is not real. The forest and ships on the sea are not real, but the sea is somewhat real because that is where the toilet goes. He is not sure if boys on TV are real because they look like him, but everything on TV is fake.

Jack and Ma do “eye stretch” for physical education. They lie down and practice changing their focus between near things and far things. Jack asks Ma to read him Dylan the Digger, but Ma is tired of that book, so he asks for The Runaway Bunny instead.

For Scream, Ma screams longer than she normally does. While Ma naps, Jack pretends to phone call characters from television. Jack also plays a game called Keypad, where he tries to guess the numbers for the door’s keypad.

On TV, Jack spots a commercial for the same painkillers Ma takes. This rattles his concept of what is and is not real. He badgers Ma about it. Ma admits that the TV features real things that exist outside Room. Ma clarifies that Dora is just a drawing and many things on TV are made up, but the pictures and people are real. Jack tries his best to make sense of what Ma tells him. Ma takes a few painkillers, and they go to bed. Ma is tired from their conversation.

The next morning, Ma is “Gone.” When Ma is Gone, she struggles to wake up properly or leave bed. Jack manages his day alone. Old Nick did not come last night. Jack double checks the bruising on Ma’s neck. Jack gets dressed and eats cereal. Ma gets up once to use the toilet, then returns to bed.

Jack watches TV quietly all day. He watches cartoons, talk shows, and game shows. He wonders if these things can really exist. When he tries to imagine everything that he has seen on television, he becomes overwhelmed and counts his teeth to calm down.

Jack has cold beans for lunch and saves the leftovers for Ma. He does not do Scream because Ma’s asleep. He watches more television. He really wants to ask Ma more questions about Outside. He ponders what is and is not real.

Jack eats more beans, then gets in his nightshirt and goes inside Wardrobe. He wishes he could nurse from Ma, but he does not want to bother her. He fears Old Nick will hurt Ma’s neck again. Jack lies awake in Wardrobe, but Old Nick never arrives.

Chapter 2, Pages 64-80 Summary: “Unlying”

The next morning, the trash is still by the door. Jack and Ma make a grocery list. Jack wants candy for Sundaytreat, but Ma worries about his teeth. Ma has Jack practice reading sentences from one of the adult books. Jack asks about what the narrator means by “as the kids say” (65). Ma explains there are actual kids outside of Room. That evening, Jack catches Ma flashing the lamp on and off again.

The next morning, Jack watches TV. He asks if things are real or not. Ma cooperates and explains everything he asks about. For story time, Ma tells a new story about a mermaid who was kidnapped by a fisherman. He took her magic comb so she could not leave. The mermaid had a baby. While the fisherman was gone, the mermaid looked for the comb and finally found it. She and her baby escaped to the sea.

When Old Nick arrives, he complains about the smell of curry from Ma and Jack’s lunch. Ma asks if he can install ventilation. Old Nick berates her for not appreciating what he has given her. Ma apologizes and tries desperately to appease Old Nick. Old Nick tells her to be thankful she and her kid are insulated from the evils of the world. Ma distracts Old Nick from his rant by inviting him to bed. Jack counts the creaks.

The next day, Ma’s bad tooth falls out. She is relieved it is gone. Jack suggests she put it under her pillow because he saw the tooth fairy on television. Ma says the tooth fairy cannot find them in Room. Jack thinks more about the things he has seen on television and tries to conceptualize Outside. He asks Ma about the stories she has told him. Ma teaches him the difference between fairy tales and real stories.

Jack wakes in the night and hears Old Nick complaining that things are getting expensive. He has been out of work for six months. Ma tries to ask questions, but he shushes her. Jack watches through the slats in the wardrobe. Old Nick spots Jack and greets him. Jack does not reply. He is afraid. Old Nick suspects something is wrong with Jack because Ma has never let him look at Jack. Old Nick offers Jack a lollipop, but Ma distracts him by inviting him to bed. Jack counts the creaks, even though he does not want to.

Later in the night, Jack wakes up still in Wardrobe. He is not sure if Old Nick has left, but he cannot sleep. Remembering the lollipop, he creeps out of Wardrobe. He stumbles over Old Nick’s shoe. Old Nick wakes up and tries to talk to Jack, but Ma screams at Old Nick. Jack runs back into Wardrobe. Old Nick puts his hand over Ma’s mouth. Ma says she is always quiet as long as Old Nick leaves Jack alone. Old Nick warns her not to forget how she got Jack. He leaves.

Jack wakes up in Bed. He nurses from Ma and apologizes for emerging. Ma knows he is sorry. Jack asks about what Old Nick said. Ma explains that Old Nick plays with her mind like Jack plays with toys. Ma tries to turn on the light, but Old Nick has cut the power. Ma and Jack eat cold cereal and take a sponge bath. Jack misses his television friends.

Jack asks about the lollipop. Ma threw it away. Jack digs through the trash. Ma stops him because Jack should not want the lollipop from Old Nick. They eat half-frozen vegetables for lunch and get in bed to keep warm. Ma falls asleep. Jack returns to the garbage for the lollipop. It’s red and delicious—like nothing Jack has tasted before.

Ma and Jack leave the lamp on so they will know when the power is back. They play a math game. Jack can add, subtract, multiply, and divide. As they go to bed, Ma apologizes for making Old Nick mad. He has cut the power to punish them. Jack imagines punishment would be getting separated from Ma. They get in bed together to keep warm.

Chapter 2, Pages 80-97 Summary: “Unlying”

It’s colder in the morning. Jack is glad Old Nick did not come. He hopes Old Nick never returns. Ma explains that Old Nick brings their food. Jack has a stomachache from the raw, cold vegetables. They do lots of physical education to keep warm.

Ma gets into a mood. When Jack asks what is wrong, Ma decides to tell Jack about her life before Room. Ma relates herself to Alice of Alice in Wonderland. Ma tells Jack about her parents, her brother, and her house before Room. She used to go to the beach and to the zoo. She begins crying. Jack thinks “outside” means on television. Ma clarifies that the real world is very big outside Room’s walls.

Ma explains that Room used to be a garden shed, but Old Nick modified it to keep them locked up. There is a leaf stuck to Skylight. Ma cites it as evidence of the world outside. Ma and Jack build a “beanstalk” on top of the table using chairs and the trashcan so Jack can look out Skylight. Jack declares that he does not see any of the things Ma said are outside, so Ma must be tricking him.

The next morning, it is even colder. Ma tells Jack more about her family. Jack wishes they could visit. Ma does too. She explains that they do not know where Room is or that Ma and Jack are in Room. Jack does not understand why they cannot get a telephone for Sundaytreat so they can call Grandma.

For physical education, they build another beanstalk. This time, Jack sees an airplane. Jack stares at Skylight for the rest of the day, hoping to see more. He accepts that airplanes are real, so Outside must be real too. He wants to go to Outside.

Ma tells Jack the story of her abduction. She was 19 and in college. Old Nick asked her to help catch his dog. He tricked her into his truck and drugged her. She woke up in Room. Ma tried to scream when Old Nick opened the door, but he hurt her. She dug through the floor under the bed but discovered that Old Nick put chain link fencing in the walls and floors. She shows Jack the hole.

Jack suggests they hurt Old Nick to escape, but Ma tried that. She smashed the toilet tank lid over Old Nick’s head. She did not hit him hard enough, and he closed the door before she could escape. She held a knife to his neck and demanded the code. He broke her wrist and took the knife. Old Nick told her to never try anything like that again or he would never return, starving her to death. Jack realizes that’s why she is afraid now, since Old Nick has been gone for days. The lamp flashes on.

Chapter 2 Analysis

Chapter 2, titled “Unlying,” mostly focuses on Ma’s slow “unlying” to Jack about the reality of their lives. For years, Ma has made careful efforts to not expose Jack to too much of the real world, allowing him to believe that outside of Room is outer space, and everything on television is fake. However, Ma begins to test the waters with Jack, allowing him to know small pieces of truth as the chapter progresses. By the end of the chapter, Ma has revealed everything about how she got in Room, who Old Nick is, and what lies beyond Room’s walls.

The Innocence of Childhood theme is explored through the lollipop that Old Nick uses to lure Jack out. Although Jack is excited by this idea, he is reluctant to emerge. He knows Ma does not want Old Nick to look at him, and he is afraid. Jack wonders, “Can he see me, am I turning to stone?” (72), right after Old Nick notices him. Still, Jack has never had access to things like candy or sweets except the rare occasion when Old Nick provides these things. When he seeks out the lollipop the next day, Jack does not understand why Ma threw it away. He sees Old Nick as a bad guy, but he does not fully know why. At his first opportunity, he digs through the trash to retrieve the lollipop. He describes it as “the sweetest thing I ever had” (77). Jack’s lack of understanding about the lollipop and defiance of Ma by digging it out of the garbage represent the bigger picture of Jack’s ignorance to his situation with Ma. The lollipop symbolizes Jack’s perception of Room because he loves Room and has no idea why it is bad because it is all he has ever had. The lollipop and what it represents communicate the idea that children see the world through innocent eyes.

The Ability to Adapt theme is also developed in this chapter, as Jack must confront his previous beliefs and reconcile them with what Ma is now telling him. Because of his innocence and his limited upbringing, Jack struggles to process the things Ma reveals to him. This starts at the beginning of Chapter 2, when Jack recognizes the bottle of painkillers on television, forcing Ma to explain how some things on television are real. Jack’s entire world is shaken by this realization. He narrates, “I don’t think [Ma] understands how amazing this is” (59). Through Jack’s line of questioning, Ma reveals that while Dora is a drawing, the other people and the places shown in the show are real. Jack’s at first thinks Ma is lying because all he has ever known is that Room is real, outside of Room is outer space, and everything on television is fake. As the chapter goes on, however, Jack encounters more things that challenge his worldview and slowly open his mind to be more receptive to what Ma is revealing to him. Jack’s shifting in his worldview based on new information develops the Ability to Adapt theme by showing how Jack struggles with change before he accepts it.

This chapter alludes to Jack and the Beanstalk as a means of explaining Jack’s acceptance of the truth. Jack climbs a “beanstalk” to the skylight to inspect the leaf, which Ma explains blew off of a real tree. Jack looks through the skylight, “staring and staring but all I see is sky. There’s nothing in it like ships or trains or horses or girls or skyscrapers zooming by” (86). Jack cannot comprehend that just because he cannot see these things through the skylight, it does not mean they are not really out there. The next day, however, Jack asks to play Beanstalk again, and this time he sees an airplane. Ma mentioned earlier that airplanes were real and not just on television, so when Jack sees the airplane, it lends credit to everything else Ma is telling him about the world outside of Room. In this way, Jack’s climb of the “beanstalk” parallels the story of Jack and the Beanstalk because Jack uses the beanstalk to explore a different world.

The Impact of Trauma theme is introduced when Ma begins to reveal more about her abduction and her first days in Room. Ma explains her attempts to escape Room. She says, “The first time he opened the door I screamed for help and he knocked me down, I never tried that again” (94). Although Ma is vague about the details, her decision not to scream anymore shows how traumatic her first violent encounter with Old Nick was. At the end of the chapter, Ma tells the story of how she tried to knock Old Nick out with the lid to the toilet tank, but “I didn’t do it hard enough, the lid fell on the floor and broke in two, and he—Old Nick—he managed to shove the door shut” (97). When she attempts to get the code from Old Nick with a knife, “He jumped up and twisted my wrist and got the knife” (97). Ma’s bad wrist is a physical representation of The Impact of Trauma theme by showing how traumatic moments leave lasting damage.

At the end, Ma explains that Old Nick threatened to starve her after that incident. Jack connects the dots and realizes that this is what Ma has been afraid of ever since Old Nick cut the power and disappeared several days ago. He narrates, “I figure it out, why Ma’s telling me the terrible story” (97), and Jack has finally grasped the severity of his situation with Ma in Room. As a representation of this realization, the light comes back on in Room, symbolizing the “lightbulb” moment that Jack has when he finally connects the information Ma tells him to their reality.