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Description edit
To five-year-old Jack, Room is the entire world. It is where he was born and grew up; it's where he lives with his Ma as they learn and read and eat and sleep and play. At night, his Ma shuts him safely in the wardrobe, where he is meant to be asleep when Old Nick visits.
Room is home to... read more
Ridiculously Simplified Synopsis edit
Summary edit
It's Jack's birthday, and he's excited about turning five. Jack lives with his Ma in Room, which has a locked door and a skylight, and measures 11 feet by 11 feet. He loves watching TV, and the cartoon characters he calls friends, but he knows that nothing he sees is truly real - only him, Ma... read more (warning: may contain spoilers)
Characters edit
- Jack: Narrator. 5 year old boy who lives in Room. Loves his Ma. She is his whole world.
- Ma: Jack's Ma, who is 26. Provides an ingenious solution to making Jack's life in Room tolerable and believable.
- Old Nick: Man who enters locked Room and brings Sunday treats. Jack is always hidden in the wardrobe when he comes into Room.
- Officer Oh: A member of the law enforcement.
- Dr. Clay: Ma and Jack's Psychiatrist.
- Noreen: Nurse
- Uncle Paul: Ma's brother. Jack's uncle.
- Bronwyn: Paul and Deanna's daughter and Jack's cousin. Ma's niece
- Grandma: Ma's mom.
- Steppa: Ma's step-dad. The only one who seems to really understand Jack. His name is Leo
- Grandpa: Ma's dad. Jack's grandfather.
- Raja: Arjeet's dog
- Pilar: The receptionist at the clinic
- Naisha: Ajeet's daughter
- Dora: One of Jack's favorite cartoons.
- Deana: Jack's Uncle's wife and Ma's sister in law
- Hugo: tattoed patient at the clinic... Skype's everyday at 2pm
- Walker: A child Jack interacts with briefly.
- Mr. Five: Jack's nickname for himself on his fifth birthday.
- Adeet: Naisha's father.
- Dr. Kendrick: A doctor at the Cumberland Clinic
- Morris: Ma's lawyer
- "Old Nick": The man who stole the main characters mother and had him with her.
- Alice: Alice in Wonderland
- Mary: Mother of Baby Jesus
- Dylan: A character in one of Jack's favorite book
- Dr. Lopez: A dentist.
- Swiper: a character on Dora
- Mrs. Garber: A patient at the Cumberland Clinic.
- Michael Keelor: Add a description of this character.
- Josef Fritzl: A man who committed similar offences to the father of Jack in this novel.
- Ed Ma
- Robert Benton
Quotes edit
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“Today I'm five. I was four last night going to sleep in Wardrobe, but when I wake up in Bed in the dark I'm changed to five, abracadabra. Before that I was three, then two, then one, then zero.”
Jack -
“Afte nap Ma says she's figured out that we don't need to ask for a measuring tape, we can make a ruler ourselves. We recycle the cereal box from Ancient Egyptian Pyramid, Ma shoes me to cut a strip as big as her foot, that's why it's called a foot, then she puts twelve little lines. I measure her nose that's two inches long. My nose is one inch and a quarter, I write it down. Ma makes Ruler flip slo-mo somersaults up Door Wall wher my talls are, she says I'm three feet three inches.”
Jack -
“In Room me and Ma had time for everything. 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.”
Jack -
“"You must feel an almost pathological need-understandably- to stand guard between your son and the world,"says the puffy-hair woman. "Yeah, it's called being a mother,"says Ma.”
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“If I was made of cake I'd eat myself before somebody else could.”
Jack -
“When I was a little kid I thought like a little kid, but now I'm five I know everything.”
Jack -
“'Yeah, but I thought he was going to punish us too.' I try to imagine. 'Like if there were two Rooms, if he put me in one and you in the other.'”
Jack -
“The soul selects her own society--Then--Shuts the door”
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“There's a dog crossing a road with a human on a rope, I think it's actually tied, not like the daycare that were just holding on. (241)”
Jack -
“Yeah. I've seen the world and I'm tired now.”
Jack
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Also everywhere I’m looking at kids, adults mostly don’t seem to like them, not even the parents do. They call the kids gorgeous and so cute, they make the kids do the thing all over again so they can take a photo, but they don’t want to actually play with them, they’d rather drink coffee talking to other adults. Sometimes there’s a small kid crying and the Ma of it doesn’t even hear.
Highlighted by 972 Kindle customers -
“It’s called mind over matter. If we don’t mind, it doesn’t matter.”
Highlighted by 970 Kindle customers -
In the world I notice persons are nearly always stressed and have no time. Even Grandma often says that, but she and Steppa don’t have jobs, so I don’t know how persons with jobs do the jobs and all the living as well. In Room me and Ma had time for everything. I guess the time gets spread very thin like butter over all 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.
Highlighted by 926 Kindle customers -
When I was four I thought everything in TV was just TV, then I was five and Ma unlied about lots of it being pictures of real and Outside being totally real. Now I’m in Outside but it turns out lots of it isn’t real at all.
Highlighted by 684 Kindle customers -
I don’t say because of manners, but actually he’s got it backwards. In Room I was safe and Outside is the scary.
Highlighted by 648 Kindle customers -
Before I didn’t even know to be mad that we can’t open Door, my head was too small to have Outside in it. When I was a little kid I thought like a little kid, but now I’m five I know everything.
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“ ‘The Soul selects her own Society—Then—shuts the Door—’
Highlighted by 546 Kindle customers -
When I was four I didn’t know about the world, or I thought it was only stories. Then Ma told me about it for real and I thought I knowed everything. But now I’m in the world all the time, I actually don’t know much, I’m always confused.
Highlighted by 474 Kindle customers -
I’ve been in the world three weeks and a half, I still never know what’s going to hurt.
Highlighted by 342 Kindle customers -
Lots of the world seems to be a repeat. • • •
Highlighted by 55 Kindle customers
Setting & Locations edit
- Room: Where Jack and Ma live. Sometimes Door beep beeps and Old Nick comes in. But Jack stays in Wardrobe when Old Nick comes and stays very quiet.
- TV: Where Dora and SpongeBob live.
- Rug: Where Jack was born. Ma shows Jack the stain and teaches him about his birth.
- Wardrobe: Where Jack sleeps.
- Room Number Seven: Another room.
- Apartment Number 6B: An apartment
First Sentence edit
Today I'm five.
Table of Contents edit
1. Presents
2. Unlying
3. Dying
4. After
5. Living
Glossary edit
- Scave: A 'word sandwich' of scared and brave which became scaredybrave then finally scave.
- Coolary: A 'word sandwich' of cool and scary.
- jamais vu: Often described as the opposite of déjà vu, jamais vu involves a sense of eeriness and the observer's impression of seeing the situation for the first time, despite rationally knowing that he or she has been in the situation before.
Themes & Symbolism edit
- Sheltering Children: This novel addresses the advantages and disadvantages of sheltering a child. Jack was sheltered from many things in Room. Things Outside that are taboo were not taboo to Jack. He still breastfed at the age of 5. Grandma didn't approve. Ma said there was no reason to stop in Room. She protected him from the ugliness of Outside by indicating that what Jack saw on TV wasn't real. He doesn't have boundaries with people, like when he hugged the boy in the library or when he wanted to take a bath with Grandma. He didn't know that some things weren't his. After hearing some indicate that she messed him up by sheltering, I considered that perhaps Jack was luckier than any regular child, at least in that area.
- The journey out of primal narcissism: Describe this theme.
- Isolation
Series & Lists edit
This book is in Random Synapses: 100 Book Reading Challenge (2011). (community list)
This book is in New York Times 10 Best Books of 2010. (authoritative list)
This book is in World Book Night 2012. (authoritative list)
This book is in American Library Association Notable Books for Adults. (authoritative list)
This is book 6 of 145 in Whitcoulls Top 100 (2011). (authoritative list)
This book is in 2013 Iowa High School Battle of the Books. (authoritative list)
This is book 46 of 121 in Whitcoulls Top 100 (2012). (authoritative list)
This is book 5 of 10 in Library Journal's Top Ten 2010. (community list)
This book is in Rainy Day Books (Staff Picks for 2010). (community list)
Authors & Contributors edit
- Emma Donoghue (Author)
First Edition edit
Original Language: English
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
Country: USA
Publication Date: September 13, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-316-09833-5
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
Country: USA
Publication Date: September 13, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-316-09833-5
Page Count: 336
Awards edit
- Amazon Best of the Month (September 2010, #6)
- Irish Book Award (2010)
- Library Journal Top Ten (2010)
- Man Booker Prize (Finalist, 2010, Shortlist)
- Alex Awards (2011)
- Orange Prize for Fiction (Finalist, 2011)
- Commonwealth Writers' Prize for Best Book (2011: Caribbean and Canada)
- Sakura Medal (Finalist, 2012)
- Pennsylvania Young Readers' Choice Award (Finalist, 2012)
Classification edit
- Library of Congress: PR6054.0547R66
- Dewey: 823.914
Notes for Parents edit
Reading Level: Young AdultsThis novel could be considered controversial, considering the mother keeps her son hidden during instances of sexual events. However, the end product could outweigh this due to education about safety, survival and perseverance in the face of tremendous odds.
Subjects edit
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Links to Supplemental Material edit
- ROOM
- Emma Donoghue: Author's official website
- Emma Donoghue - Wikipedia
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