The story of Jack and Ma has been told, but we fail to acknowledge
the roles that the minor characters play in the novel. After all, Jack’s story
is all about integration into the real world and his interactions with people
other than Ma. When Jack first enters the outside world he is dazed and
confused, and can’t seem to connect with anything or anyone. The first person
he makes any sort of connection to is Grandma.
Unlike every other person Jack has met, Grandma doesn’t seem
to give two thoughts before treating Jack as a normal human being. Everyone else, especially
the media, sees him as a unique creature that has emerged from Room after 5
years and they are treating him more like a test subject than an actual person
with feelings. Grandma is the total opposite, when she first meets Jack she is
very accepting and Jack is able to connect with her way faster than anyone
else. Ma’s father, on the other hand wants nothing to do with Jack. While it
seems that this action would harm Jack, I think it gives him very valuable
perspective. It allows him to see that the world isn’t perfect. While Jack was
in Room, while it is awful to think about, he was technically in a “perfect
place”. Now take this with a grain of salt, but he was subject to no diseases, everything
was provided for him, he was surrounded by the one person he loves constantly;
it seems to me that Room seemed to display many Edenic qualities.
When Jack finally entered the outside world, he needed to
realize that there are flaws in the world, and that not everything is perfect.
Which is why Ma’s father is a key character in Jack’s integration and
development in the world. Similarly, Ma’s overdose was a very important aspect of
the book. Not because it made Jack realize anything about death – because Jack
didn’t understand the total gravity of the situation—but because it gave Jack a
reason to be separated from Ma and become better acclimated to society. During
Ma’s recovery Leo played a much more traditional role of the “father figure”,
this figure is also incredibly important in establishing some sort of anchor
for Jack. Jack has been able to understand quite a bit about the world, but he
still struggles with communicating with others in a way that they understand
him. Leo teaches him the ins and outs, and becomes more of a friend to Jack
than another judgmental adult.
Your comment about Room having Eden-like qualities is intriguing. While it was a horrible, disgusting situation, I agree--life was simpler for Jack in Room because he was wholly loved and attended to by Ma. I honestly think Jack's real journey began after he entered the Outside. When he was separated from Ma, he had to learn to be by himself and around other people. Good job!
ReplyDeleteI agree, Grandma and Leo were really important characters that may be underappreciated. Grandma has no hesitation in immediately accepting Jack as her grandson, which, though it freaks Jack out at first, proves to be really valuable, as Jack's forced separation from Ma also forces him to accept other human beings as family and friends. In addition, Leo proves to be the first strong male role model (who is also a fun guy) Jack has ever had, which is also quite important (Jack used to believe that he would grow up to be a woman like Ma). Jack really is able to become more independent and branch out with Grandma caring for him and having fun with Leo.
ReplyDeleteYes, we have to word it carefully--you don't want to *idealize* what is actually a horrific situation in Room. But from *Jack's* point of view, the comparison to Eden, and to the escape as a loss of innocence, makes a lot of sense. He is exiled from this state of innocence and can never return, and this trauma largely takes the form of *knowledge* pouring in on him at a rate he can't process. This also brings us into the uncomfortable territory of Jack thinking of Nick as something akin to a God, as when he wonders whether they should pray to Nick. We know he is anything but, and indeed Jack's nickname(!) for him is a euphemism for the Devil or Satan. But again, from Jack's limited experience, Room ends up being a state of innocence and relative safety that he wants to return to after his exile.
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