Despite Jack’s malnourishment and below average size and height,
his intelligence seems to be way above average. I don’t really remember being a
5-year-old, but being 5 years old is around kindergarten age and already Jack
is able to empathize with the characters in the fairytales and understand concepts
way deeper than most 5 year olds could dream of. In the story about the mermaid
and the baby, Jack asks Ma why the mermaid doesn’t take the baby with her at
the end of the story. Ma corrects the story and says of course the mermaid takes
the baby. Jack recognizes that he acts as the baby in this story, and that from
his narration we understand that something doesn’t sit well with Jack about
leaving the baby behind. Jack sort of understands that he is more of a hindrance
to Ma and that he is somehow messing up her plans.
The most shocking part is that Ma has been trapped for years
and years, and has had all the time in the world to plan some sort of escape
plan involving and using Jack to her advantage. Yet, in all those years she
never came up with a solid plan. That is until Jack proposed that they could “trick”
Nick, and suddenly a plan forms in Ma’s mind. Since we want to see Jack as the
hero of the story, this revelation from Jack doesn’t come as a surprise.
However, if we take a step back we realize that Jack is 5 years old and he has
come up with a better plan in 1 day than Ma has in 5 years.
Jack’s intelligence is also manifest in his ability to adapt
to plan B after they plan it all out. Very few 5 year olds are able to sit
still, let alone fake playing dead for an extended period of time. Despite Jack’s
physical limitations – which are made obvious to us again when he pees and
poops a little while wrapped in the rug – he is able to stay silent and carry
out a pretty extensive plan. In addition to staying silent he finds motivation
through the fairytales and stories; like “GingerJack be nimble be quick” and
imaging Old Nick is a giant and is “coming to tear me in half fee fie foe fum” (p140). He is able to
take the themes of the fairytales and relate them to his own life and
situation.
Jack does seem to be extremely empathetic (at least toward Ma) for a five year old. However, a lot of his strength seems to lie (counterintuitively) in his inexperience itself rather than sharpened intellect. For Jack, real and 'just tv' and 'stories' seem to be very grey, fluid classifications. Jack has lived in one room for his entire life and Ma has told him everything he knows. This means that Jack would have had to use his imagination in order to picture the world outside, throwing his perception of 'reality' into the same obscurities that most children associate only with fairytales and fables (which Jack also gets a share of). Thus, Jack takes the stuff Ma says very seriously - because all of it, as far as Jack is concerned, has a semblance of truth. Maybe Ma was waiting for Jack to get a little older before she tried something like this? It is a bit weird how surprised she seems to be at his suggestion but maybe she's just acting.
ReplyDeleteJack's intelligence is something I also found intriguing about the novel. Jack mentions how he's doing multiplication and division, which I'm pretty sure I didn't master until, like, third grade. Your post also highlights how Jack is incredibly creative, which is particularly impressive considering he's lived his entire live in the same room. Overall, great post!
ReplyDeleteAt first, I was actually put off by Jack's abnormally high intelligence, as it seemed somewhat unrealistic for a kid his age. Upon further reflection, however, it seems to make a certain amount of sense. Confined in Room, Jack doesn't have to spend much brainpower on understanding the world around him. Under Ma's instruction, he's learning tons of vocabulary and mathematics, using time that a "normal" child would spend socializing or exploring the world more fully.
ReplyDeleteJack is really smart and creative and his understanding of the stories that Ma tells him is very deep. However, we also see Jack choosing to not understand when Ma is telling him about Outside or at least choosing not to believe which shows that he's still only five and we can't expect for him to be perfect and I think that makes him a really nice character to read.
ReplyDeleteJack does seem very intelligent for his age, though I suppose that makes some sense. Ma hopes to be able to leave from Room some day, and in order to do that she would need to have Jack be as sharp as possible. She has much more time than other parents do, being constantly in such close proximity to Jack, to be able to make him as smart as he is. The proximity and extreme motivation most likely have at least a good bit to do with how smart Jack is.
ReplyDeleteI definitely think that because Jack has only had Room to grow up in, he's gotten a chance to develop faster intellectually because there hasn't been so much other stuff to explore. He's so used to his surroundings that he can devote all his attention to learning from books and Ma.
ReplyDeleteI agree that despite his limited physical development, Jack is way ahead of his age in terms of his intelligence and ability to make deep connections. Even in the reading for Monday, the first part of After, the doctor remarks on Jack's "remarkably accelerated literacy and numeracy." I especially like your point about Jack being able to understand the meaning behind Ma's stories and relate them to his own life, because honestly not many five-year-olds can do that. I can barely even remember what I did when I was five.
ReplyDeleteI think both Jack's accelerated intelligence and his limited physical development are the direct result of being in Room. Ma has all this time to teach him things and Jack has nothing better to do, so he learns a ton through stories and reading and playing Parrot with the TV. However, I also don't think Old Nick brings food containing all the nutrients that a growing child needs to develop properly, so that contributes to his small size.
Jack is also able to read, and has been for a decent amount of time. I was just learning to read at that age, so Jack really is quite a bit ahead of most five year olds. He is also able to interpret and understand things on a much deeper level than most five year olds can (he knows how pivotal it is for him to "act" well in Plan B), but at the same time, he is very unaware of everything going on around him, and he has a lot of trouble communicating with people who aren't Ma.
ReplyDeleteI agree, I think Jack is extremely smart in some ways, probably because he has only been around an adult his entire life, so he kind of has to rise to her level in some ways, while she comes down to his level in others.
ReplyDeleteWhen it came to an escape plan, I think that it is pretty impressive that Jack is able to think of a plan so quickly that Ma didn't think of in seven years. Jack provides a sort of refreshing child's perspective, so he can look at their situation from a different angle than Ma does. Namely, he makes Ma look at him as an asset to their escape plan, rather than an added burden.
All of the complications with Ma's plans make Jack look even more heroic after pulling off the escape. One thing we can draw from Ma's way of forming the plan is her willingness to sacrifice herself and put herself in danger in order for Jack to have a chance to escape. Ma realizes that Jack is slowly growing to the point where he will be an asset in any escape plan that they pursue, rather than a detriment. The foreclosure aspect of Old Nick's house acts as the catalyst that causes Ma to initiate the plan. We understand that if Jack fails and Old Nick captures him, it is very likely that he will return and punish Ma, possibly even killing her to prevent any other shenanigans. The fact that Ma is willing to still go through with the plan, putting her faith in Jack, exemplifies the bond she shares in Jack and the trust she has that he will succeed.
ReplyDeleteThe examples you brought up are good representations of Jack's intelligence. I also think that Emma Donoghue is making a point about Jack playing to his strengths. At first his age seems a hindrance, but eventually both Jack and Ma realize the advantages. His childish creativity and determination are essential to their escape.
ReplyDeleteMost 5 year olds are completely clueless at the age of 5. I remember just being able to read small words at that age and Jack has been able to read for some time. He is definitely beyond most kids academically but emotionally too he is able to act like an adult which is rare.
ReplyDeleteI would certainly agree that as a narrator Jack seems incredibly advanced for his age given his situation, but in a way it makes sense. Being cooped up with Ma trying to teach him stuff and no way of escaping that, he would probably pick up a lot more math and vocabulary and math by that age than most people, who would have other social opportunities or play with legos and squirt guns all day and learn different sorts of things.
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