Room by Emma Donoghue was a novel that left me with a lot of questions. How will Jack grow up in society? Will people ever see him as anything other than the boy from the shed? How will his mother care for him all the way to adulthood? I am happy as to how Donoghue finished the novel, but like many others expressed in class, I wanted more. This is just what I think might happen in his future.
I think Jack's life will be in the publics eye for quite a long time. He might go on tv once a year and get checked up on much like how Oprah has here "Where are they now?" episodes. People will be curious as to where he is and what he has been up to. I think that school would be difficult for Jack until he understands ownership and how to interact with other children. We saw him with his cousin but he may act strange around other children. I tried to look up some information on cases like this but many are about the adults and not the children. I think Ma will have a much harder time integrating due to the fact that she already was "gone" earlier in the novel.
I think Ma will have an easy time finding a job because who doesn't want to higher a huge media story like this. I think it will be difficult for her to keep a job due to so many people trying to meet her much like celebrities. She won't be able to find soplitude for probably a year or two until people forget and move on. They will be financially hurt no matter what due to medical bills from Jack being sick all the time after starting school. Remember, his immune system is awful. It also will be down due to debt from their rescue and such. She also will have a really hard time not always thinking about her imprisonment even if she seemed to have taken a step in the right direction at the end of the novel.
I hope that everything in the end turns out nice and Jack is fine and that Ma is not damaged psychologically but that just doesn't seem very realistic. Things will be damaged but hopefully it is not enough to ruin them.
Things are certainly tough for Jack and Ma. One of the doctors, maybe Dr Clay or perhaps it was the lawyer suggested that Ma write a book to raise college funds for Jack. She seemed opposed to this idea, however
ReplyDeleteI think that the best thing for Jack to do would be to change his name and never go into the public eye again. This is especially possible now that he cut his hair. Jack is young enough to adapt and lead a normal life, mostly because of how good of a job Ma did parenting him when they were in Room.
ReplyDeleteI agree Ma will definitely always have trauma from her experience in Room, but Jack is lucky in a sense Ma did such a good job parenting him he doesn't really have bad memories of Room. Once he gets older however, I think he will forget whatever he saw was good in Room and only think about how awful it must have been for Ma.
ReplyDeleteI think that Jack's young age will really help him. If you think about it, he has probably only spend about 1/16 of his life in Room. He will undoubtedly adapt eventually. It is also good that he has advanced academic abilities, as he will not be left behind in that sense. I think that the strides he makes in the little time since leaving Room is an indication that thinks are going up and he'll be just fine.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Isaak. It may take him a little while to "catch up," in a sense, to other kids but Jack is really smart and once he's done so I don't think his experiences in Room will be as much of a hindrance as they always will be to Ma. Although, I'm not sure they will have as many financial struggles as you predict. There are a lot of things Ma can do to earn money, and I'm sure a lot of people would be willing to donate (and already have) to get them back on their feet. I think enough could be donated for Ma to go back to school, get a degree, and then a somewhat higher paying job.
ReplyDeleteI agree with a lot of these comments--one measure of the amazing job Ma has done parenting Jack in impossible conditions is the fact that his linguistic and social skills are really extraordinary, and that he doesn't ever really *feel* imprisoned or victimized during the time they're in Room. He's a little freaked out by Outside people at first, but he adjusts pretty quickly and is actually pretty good at interacting with adults by the end of the novel--and that's only 3 1/2 weeks. But I do think about him as, say, a college student--relatively "normal," well-adjusted, intelligent, etc.--and the fact that he'll always have this secret, he'll always have to think about at what point he'll tell his new friends about his first five years, that he's "that kid." Do you think this traumatic history could affect him socially? How would you react if a friend shared a story like Jack's with you? Would you look at him or her differently? Would it make a difference?
ReplyDeleteIt will be interesting to see how Ma and Jack operate in the real world, not only because it's a brand new place but because of the media attention they'll get, like you mention. In my opinion, the media attention adds a whole other dimension to the "hostility" of this new world towards Ma and Jack, because they're trying to move on while the world around them wants them to recall the past.
ReplyDeleteI agree with what CR said for the most part...changing their names (and appearances, as with the haircut) would help remove media attention from them, and after enough time, allow them to resume (mostly) normal lives. It'll be important for Ma, and especially Jack, to interact in public, since that's what they need to do to interact in the real world. It would be unhealthy if Ma and Jack stayed out of public for the rest of their lives...why escape from Room if they're just going to hide from the real world once they get out?
The ambiguous ending leaves a lot of questions, like the ones posed here. And while we may not be able to figure out a correct answer to them, they sure make us think about them!
I agree with Claire that Jack will probably never think of his time in Room as hugely traumatic, but will eventually become aware of how terrible the situation was for Ma, and I could see how this could be traumatic as well. I could also influence his relationships--since he will have first hand knowledge of how relationships between people (if Ma and Nick's interaction can be called a relationship) can be so horribly twisted, he might be more reluctant to enter into them. I think in general he will be a more reluctant person for a while because everything is new.
ReplyDeleteI don't necessarily think that it will be easy for Ma to get a job. When she does, I believe it will be in spite of her "fame". The media's view of people turns negative so quickly and easily, that definitely might have an impact on whoever her employers may be.
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