A Room To Overcome

Authors note: I wrote this piece to demonstrate my knowledge of theme. But, before you start reading I would like to point out that the theme of overcoming adversity takes place in many different novels. Such as the hunger games. Katniss has to deal with the loss of her father, taking care of Prim, winning the Hiunger Games, and choosing what boy she wants. In the end she overcame all of these problems, much like the characters in this book overcame theirs.

Imagine you have been locked in an eleven by eleven foot room for seven years. Imagine that this room does not only contain just you, but it also contains a toilet, a kitchen, a bathroom, and a five year old boy that you birthed yourself. Imagine the desperation, the anxiety, the horror. Imagine the reality of Jack and his Ma. In the book ROOM by Emma Donoghue this is the situation. Along with other problems that not only have to be faced, but dealt with. So many problems in fact, that if I had to give this book a theme, overcoming adversity would definitely be it.

“Ma” as her and her son Jack call her, is kidnapped at the age of nineteen. But, seeing as the book is told from the son’s point of view, there isn’t really a lot of information about the mother from before Jack started developing memories. But, throughout the novel, the mother does drop hints that the room is a bad place to be in, and that she was extremely depressed before the birth of her child. The conversation that takes place on the first page of this book happens to be one of them. Jack talks about how when he went to bed one night he was four but when he woke up he was five. And then he continues to ask his mother if he was “minus numbers”. He asks “Up in heaven, was I minus one, minus two, minus three-?” and his mother responds with “Nah, the number’s didn’t start until you zoomed down.” Although Jacks question was answered he responded with “Through skylight. You were sad until I happened in your tummy. “ This implies that before Jack came and gave her something to fight for, Ma, was sad and probably close to giving up hope. Hints like this continue throughout the book. Such as his one “ Ma scrunches up the picture. There’s wet on the table, it makes her white all shiny. ‘Don’t be crying’ I say.’ I can’t help it’ she rubs the tears from her face. ‘Why can’t you help it?’ ‘I wish I could describe it better, I miss it’. “ And at one point she tells her son about her desperate attempts at escaping. Like trying to hit the man who comes into the room every night with a toilet lid, or digging a hole under the room with her nails. So, ma’s problem with depression disappears after the birth of her son.

Although Ma is happier then she was before, she and her son are still faced with being trapped inside of this room. They need to get out somehow but they have no idea how. They get more desperate with every day. The man who trapped them in this room is in debt, and he recently lost his job. If he doesn’t come up with enough money for the house by the end of the month, the bank will foreclose his house. And for Jack and his Ma, this means they have no food, and no electricity. The man will leave them to die in this room, and the bank would never find them in time. So they make a plan. They have Jack pretend he is dead. They roll him up in a rug, and tell the man that he has to be buried immediately. While Jack is in the car on his way to the graveyard, he unravels himself, and goes to inform a man and the poliece about the man, and about his Ma that is still trapped. They are soon free, and the conflict of being stuck in this room is resolved. Yet another reason this book is about overcoming adversity,

Even with these major problems being solved, more problems arrive.  Jack has never been in the outside world. He was born and raised inside of this room. So, he has a hard time comprehending that the things that he thought were “Just pretend” are actually real. He as a hard time with his social skills because the only other person he had every talked to was his mother. He can’t go outside without special clothes and glasses because his skin and eyes have never come in contact with direct sun. The doctors say that since he is still young he will have an easier time adjusting to everything, but even so, things get increasingly hard. He takes stuff from stores because he doesn’t understand the concept of paying for something, and let’s just say his manners need some work. But even so, throughout the book, he starts to make some progress. He spends a few nights without his mom at his grandparents house, and although he get sunburn in the process, he managed a few days outside without all of his special gear on. By the end of the book Jack is making steady progress. This problem is never fully resolved within the length of the book, but it reassures you that this problem is bound to be resolved.

Everyone has problems in their lives, some are bigger than others, and some are smaller. Some have a lot and some have a little. And some face them, and some let them linger. Jack and his Ma faced their problems, and even though it took a lot of time and work, they did it. Overcoming adversity is not an easy thing to do. But they did it, and that is exactly why that is the main theme of this book.