Room

63 pages • 2 hours read

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 5Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 5, Pages 253-275 Summary: “Living”

Jack is now staying with Grandma and Steppa at Ma’s childhood home. Jack keeps Ma’s tooth in his mouth. He asks Grandma if Ma is dead, but Grandma assures him that Ma is alive. Jack says he does not want to be alive if Ma is not. Grandma cries. They are waiting for an update.

Grandma sets Jack up in Ma’s old room, which they have converted to a home gym. It is the closest he can be to Grandma’s room. Grandma laments getting rid of Ma’s things, but her grief counseling group recommended it. Tooth falls out of Jack’s mouth, so he grabs it quickly. Grandma warns him not to suck on small things. She tries to open Jack’s hand to see what he has, but Jack hits her in the stomach and shoves Tooth back into his mouth. Grandma is shocked, but she ignores it. Jack cannot sleep if everyone else is awake, so Grandma lies down in her own bed for a while to help. Jack cries. He thinks Ma was in a hurry to get to Heaven. He sucks on Tooth and wishes he could nurse. He dreams of being tangled in Ma’s hair.

In the morning, Jack is anxious. He counts his fingers and toes. He counts the things in his Dora bag. The clinic calls to say Ma is stable. Grandma invites Jack downstairs to say goodbye to Grandpa before he returns to Australia. Jack tells Grandma that Grandpa wishes he was not born, but he agrees to go downstairs for pancakes. He keeps Tooth in his mouth. At the breakfast table, he asks Grandpa what “stable” means. Jack goes back to bed after breakfast.

Later, Grandma takes Jack away from the TV. She lied to Dr. Clay about playing Checkers with Jack to enrich him. Jack does not understand why she lied. On the way to the park, Jack wonders if Grandma lied about Ma being alive.

Jack recognizes the fence around the playground as the same one Old Nick installed in Room’s walls. Jack watches the other kids playing, but he is scared to join them. When Grandma calls another boy over, Jack hides in a bush. Jack gets a sunburn from their time outside.

That night, Jack dreams of Tooth chasing him. He wakes up to Grandma soothing him, telling him to go back to sleep, but Jack lies awake for the rest of the morning.

Jack gets confused by all the new items, like different kinds of brushes. Grandma teaches Jack about France and about coins. The clinic calls to say Ma is in recovery. Jack naps, but Grandma wakes him up. Jack moves Tooth from his mouth to his pocket so he can talk better.

Jack tells Grandma about his toys in Room that he misses. They make a list of things Jack wants for the police. Grandma and Jack play in the backyard. Jack wants to see the hammock, so Grandma goes to the garage to find it. While she is in there, Jack gets stung by a bee.

Ma calls. She is apologetic and assures Jack she will come swing in the hammock soon. She says she was tired and made a mistake. Jack tells her how he got sunburnt and bee-stung.

Dr. Clay visits to work with Jack. Jack asks if he can go be with Ma in the clinic. Dr. Clay says no. Ma needs to be by herself. Jack cannot comprehend that Ma would not want him close while she is sick.

Chapter 5, Pages 275-293 Summary: “Living”

Jack has a nightmare about computers talking to each other about him while Ma is stuck up a beanstalk. Grandma takes Jack to the park before breakfast so it will be empty. He has fun on all the playground equipment, but he does not care for the sandbox because it feels scratchy. Jack climbs a ladder and plays in a tiny house at the top, where he leaves his shoes. Grandma puts him in the baby swing, so he will not fall out. A little girl thinks Jack is a baby girl because he is in the baby swing. Jack wants out of the swing and struggles with it. Grandma helps. Jack is too nervous to climb back into the small house with the girl watching, so Grandma gets Jack’s shoes for him. Jack takes them off again for the walk to the car.

Later, Grandma’s book club meets. Jack does not understand why they are not reading. The women talk about Jack. One woman refers to the pictures of him looking angelic. The images of Jack from Ma’s interview were published. Grandma is angry. The women talk about their disbelief that Ma was abducted and alive all these years.

Steppa shows Jack how to play with LEGOs. Grandma makes Jack take a bath, but Jack does not want to bathe alone, so Grandma wears her swimsuit and joins him. The next morning, Jack sneaks into the empty kitchen and cuts his ponytail with scissors. Grandma helps him make it into a bracelet. Jack checks the mirror to make sure he still has his muscles.

It has only been a week since Jack came to Grandma’s, but it feels like much longer without Ma. Grandma takes Jack to run some errands. They buy stamps and mail Ma a picture Jack drew. They visit Uncle Paul in his skyscraper office. In a coffee shop, Jack sees a woman nursing a baby. He asks the baby if it likes the left better than the right. Grandma drags Jack away, apologizing.

They meet up with Deana and Bronwyn at a park and feed ducks. There is a vendor selling spongy, slip-on shoes. Jack loves them, so Grandma buys him some. They run several more errands. They visit the library, where Jack explores several books and Grandma reads some to him. Jack joins another boy, Walker, at a small table with trains. Jack crashes his train into Walker’s, and it makes Walker laugh. They play like this for a while. When it is time to go, Jack hugs Walker, accidentally knocking him down. Grandma tells Jack to save his hugs for his loved ones, but Jack says he loves Walker.

The next day, Jack receives a delivery of his things from Room, including Rug, the Jeep, and Jack’s books. He sits on his blow-up bed with Rug draped over him. He introduces his old copy of Dylan the Digger to his new copy, and he makes them fight. The new copy rips and Jack cries, remembering how Ma was mad when he ripped one of the books in Room. He puts Tooth in his mouth to soothe himself.

Grandma and Steppa take Jack to the beach. Jack does not want to go into the water because Ma said that’s where their poo goes. Steppa tells him the poo gets cleaned out of their water and does not go to the ocean.

Jack talks to Ma on the phone. He tells her there’s no poo in the ocean. Ma apologizes for not having all the answers. She cries. Jack asks why Ma cannot come be with him. Ma says they’re still figuring out what she needs. Jack thinks Ma needs him.

Chapter 5, Pages 293-321 Summary: “Living”

Jack watches a talk show featuring intellectuals discussing Jack and applying Jack’s experience to a broader philosophical school of thought. They relate Jack’s perspective of the world through television to Plato’s allegory of the cave. Grandma turns it off. She reads The Runaway Bunny to Jack, but Jack wonders what happens if the mama bunny runs from the baby bunny.

At the store, Jack gets separated from Grandma. He runs into a woman who asks where his mom is. Jack says she is in the clinic for trying to go to heaven early. The woman recognizes Jack and calls her friend over. When Grandma finds Jack, he has attracted a small crowd and is signing autographs. Grandma chases them away. They leave in a hurry. Jack is upset that they cannot stay and buy a soccer ball.

Grandma lectures Jack about how something bad could have happened to him. Jack gets angry. He packs his bag and declares loudly that he is going back to the clinic. Steppa picks up Jack and carries him back upstairs. Jack fights Steppa like he is fighting for his life, remembering Ma said it was okay to fight. Steppa drops Jack on the mattress and sits next to him. Jack cries, then puts Tooth in his mouth. When Jack is calm, Steppa invites him downstairs for pie and television.

While Jack is painting at the kitchen table, Ma comes home and surprises him. Jack gives Ma his hair bracelet. He shows Ma the things from Room. Ma does not want these things, but Jack needs all his things, including Rug. Ma and Jack eat dinner with Grandma and Steppa, then move their things into an apartment at an independent living facility. Ma is in good spirits. Grandma helps them move their stuff in. Ma’s wrist hurts as she unlocks the door.

Ma and Jack each have their own rooms, but they share Ma’s bed at night. Jack tries to nurse, but Ma explains that there is no more milk because her breasts stopped making it. Jack is sad but he kisses Ma’s breasts goodbye and goes to sleep.

In the morning, Jack worries he swallowed Tooth. He asks Ma what happens to things that are swallowed that are not food. Ma tells him those things end up in their poop. Jack and Ma make signs for their rooms. Jack tries to put Rug out in the living area, but Ma makes him store it in his wardrobe. Upset, Jack smashes a vase. He says he does not want to be Ma’s little bunny and retreats to his room. He sits inside his wardrobe and covers himself in Rug. He stays there until Dr. Clay and Noreen come visit.

Dr. Clay and Noreen set up a computer for Jack and Ma. Ma and Dr. Clay discuss the idea of new identities. Dr. Clay says celebrity status is its own trauma. Ma does not want to call Jack a different name. After dinner, Jack confesses to Ma that he thinks he swallowed Tooth. Ma says it is okay for things to get lost, but Jack worries it will stay lost in him forever.

Jack suggests asking for a new vase for Sundaytreat, but then he remembers they do not have to wait until Sunday anymore. Ma assures Jack he will not have to see Old Nick again. She will because she must testify against him, but she is okay with that. Jack and Ma go into town. Jack buys Ma a pin for her hair with the coins Steppa gave him. He wants Ma to keep it forever, even when she is dead. He asks if she will die before him. Ma says she will but that is okay. She will be getting Jack’s room ready in Heaven. Jack says it will be their shared room in Heaven.

Jack experiences many new things: watercolors, LEGOs, kicking the soccer ball, and visiting Grandma at her new job. Jack thinks Grandma seems different at work. Ma says everyone has different versions of themselves.

Ma and Jack agree to try everything new at least once. They visit museums and parks together. Steppa gets Jack a bike. Jack and Ma attend a concert. Grandma suggests they go to the zoo, but Ma does not want to see cages. They try different churches. They make a list of things they have tried and things they want to try. Jack used to think he knew everything but now he knows nothing. He asks Ma if she ever wishes they did not escape. Ma does not. Ma tells Dr. Clay she is struggling to have social energy. He tells her it is okay, and she adapted to survive.

Jack wants to visit Room. He likes the Outside and he understands they cannot live in Room, but he wants to see it. He will not go with anyone but Ma. Officer Oh escorts them to Room. In Old Nick’s backyard, Jack asks about the baby. Officer Oh says they dug her up to be moved to a better place. Ma cries. She takes a moment to steady herself. She vomits.

Inside Room, Jack feels like it is wrong. Many things are different. It looks strange without Rug, and Jack’s drawings are gone. He looks at the numbers where Ma measured his height and realizes he is bigger than the last mark from his fifth birthday. Jack says goodbye to the things that are left in Room, like Bed, Eggsnake, and Wardrobe. He takes the picture Ma drew of him. Ma cries again. When they leave, Jack looks back at it and thinks it resembles a crater: “a hole where something happened” (321).

Chapter 5 Analysis

Chapter 5’s main conflict features Jack having to adapt to life without Ma for the first time, and through these new challenges and experiences, Jack’s narration develops the main themes of the novel: The Innocence of Childhood, The Impact of Trauma, and The Ability to Adapt.

At the beginning of Chapter 5, Jack is separated from Ma for the first time in his life and he worries about her. Jack’s attachment to Ma, combined with the stress of being separated from her, takes a toll on him. When Grandma tries to open Jack’s hand to see what he has after Tooth falls out of his mouth, Jack narrates, “My hand hits her hard in the tummy” (255). Jack’s violent response to Grandma trying to take Ma’s tooth from him reveals the deeper issues Jack is facing while being separated from Ma.

Jack has another violent outburst later in the chapter, after Grandma has angrily dragged him out of the store because he has wandered off and gotten accosted by true crime fans. Jack’s “screaming and hitting him because it’s allowed, it’s a special case, I can kill him even, I’m killing and killing him—” (296). Jack thinks, “he’s going to rip me in pieces, he’s going to wrap me in Rug and bury me” (296). Jack’s violent outburst and relating Steppa to Old Nick in his head shows how he is still dealing with the trauma of his life in Room and his great escape. Once in his room, Jack self-soothes. He narrates, “I stop crying. I feel under the blow-up for Tooth, I put him in my mouth and suck hard” (297). Jack’s use of Ma’s tooth as a way to soothe himself is a reflection of Jack’s attachment to Ma, linking Ma’s tooth as a symbol of this attachment. Jack finds comfort in being with Ma, so when he cannot be with her, he keeps part of her with him.

Jack also uses items in Room as a stand-in for Ma’s comfort. He and Grandma make a list of things for the police to bring him from Room, including Rug. While Grandma and Steppa are appalled at the state of the dirty rug, Jack’s attachment to it is evident when he gives the rug “a huge hug” (289). Jack sits with Rug “over my head like a tent, her smell is just like I remember and the feel” (289). Jack tries to take Rug with him when he attempts to go back to the clinic by himself, and he smashes a vase in his and Ma’s apartment when she tells him he must keep Rug hidden away. It is not just the items from Room that Jack misses, however. Jack misses Room itself. While Jack enjoys learning about the world outside of Room, he longs for the days of just him and Ma together inside Room with endless time and no responsibilities. In his mind, his life was good in there. This is why, at the end of the book, Jack insists just he and Ma enter Room together. However, when they get inside, Jack observes, “it’s all wrong. Smaller than Room and emptier and it smells weird” (319). It takes Jack time, but he realizes that Room will never be the same to them. He and Ma cannot go back to the times he misses with just the two of them forever. This final visit to room provides Jack with the closure he needs to move his life away from his time in Room.

Jack’s struggles with his attachment to Ma as well as his night terrors also develop the Impact of Trauma theme. Jack’s scary dreams, which begin while he and Ma are in the clinic, often end with someone soothing him. Jack’s dreams often have to do with things he is anxious about, like his separation from Ma or his decision to keep six toys instead of five, intertwined with his fears from Room and escaping Room, like being wrapped in a rug, chased down the street, or buried alive. Although Jack is not fully cognizant of the horrors of Room, he has trauma all the same from the experience of being raised in and later escaping from Room.

The Impact of Trauma is also explored through Ma’s return at the end of the novel. Having worked closely with professionals to recover her mental health, Ma is in a better place when she and Jack reunite. However, there are still signs that Ma has been through something traumatic. When Ma unlocks the door to their new apartment, “she makes a face because of her bad wrist. She’s not all fixed yet” (302). Ma’s wrist is a physical representation of the trauma Ma still carries from her time in Room. Later, when faced with the task of going back inside Room for Jack, Ma vomits. This physical reaction to facing the trauma of Room shows how trauma impacts people in more ways than just mentally.

Despite the trauma, Jack does come to adapt to his new situation. Though his progress is slow, it is evident. For example, the first time Grandma takes Jack to the park to play with other kids, he is too afraid. Jack hides in a bush when Grandma tries to call another boy over to play with Jack. But after a few more outings, Jack begins to understand how to play with other kids. At the library, Jack meets a little boy named Walker, and the boys bond when Jack smashes his train engine into the other train engines, making Walker laugh. When it is time to go, Jack narrates, “I think I’ll give him a hug. I do it too fast and knock him down” (288). Jack has never voluntarily given a hug to anyone but Ma before, so this is an important moment for Jack, even though he knocks Walker down. When Grandma tells Jack to save his hugs for the people he loves, Jack says, “I love that boy Walker” (288). This instance illustrates how Jack is learning to adapt to his new environment and make friends. This also illustrates the Innocence of Childhood theme by showing how Jack sees Walker as a close friend after this singular encounter. Other ways Jack adapts are to his sensory issues. Jack hates how his tennis shoes feel, so Grandma gets him some slip-on rubber shoes that are much lighter and Jack manages to keep them on. Jack also shows a remarkable ability to adapt when he cannot have Ma’s breastmilk. Though he misses it badly in his first few days without Ma, when Ma explains to him that her breasts stopped making milk while they were separated, Jack says goodbye to her breasts and kisses them. This moment is not only indicative of Jack’s ability to adapt, but also shows his childish innocence, as he sees nothing wrong with touching and kissing Ma’s breasts.

In addition to developing the main themes, Chapter 5 also develops the idea that the media’s obsession with true crime is harmful to the victims. After Jack is recorded hugging Ma to comfort her during her interview in Chapter 4, it is revealed while Jack listens to Grandma’s book club that this image was leaked, despite their lawyer’s warnings to the media not to do so. With Jack’s image in the public, his ability to go places or live normally is disrupted. The media’s publication of Jack’s photos makes Jack’s adjustment to being in society more difficult. This instance also highlights Jack’s innocence by showing how he does not understand what he is doing wrong by giving out his autograph. Jack also sees a group of intellectuals on television discussing the philosophical implications of Jack’s confinement. Grandma quickly turns the television off and tells Jack, “Those guys spent too much time at college” (294). This scene emphasizes the way the media’s presence is not beneficial to the victims by showing the way media figureheads are so far removed from the cases they discuss.

The final image of the chapter relates back to the beginning, when Ma explains that craters are “[h]oles where something happened. Like a volcano or an explosion or something” (24). As Jack and Ma leave Room for the final time, Jack looks back and observes, “It’s like a crater, a hole where something happened” (321). This crater motif helps to communicate the Impact of Trauma theme by relating the image of craters to the way trauma impacts people. Jack understands that Room is full of traumatic moments, and he compares it to a crater, as both are evidence of traumatic impacts.