Symbolism in Room, a Novel by Emma Donoghue

The novel Room by Emma Donoghue is written in the perspective of a five year old named Jack who is trapped in a room with his mother which one does not learn much about. Ma's journal enables one is able to see Ma as a person with thoughts, emotions, and experiences, not just by how Jack, the narrator, describes her. On the background on each of the pages of Ma's journal is Room, which shows how being trapped in Room has taken over her life.

For instance, it is shown that she is constantly in terror by thinking about Old Nick and the ways he would harm her son or how being in Room has changed her.

On the first page of the journal, the zigzag line separating Ma's old life and new life in Room symbolizes the barrier between her old life and her life in Room. On one side of the zigzag line, the pictures of her old life illustrate her life before she had Jack and lived in Room, which one is rarely told about.

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The pictures of Ma's report card, her friends, her childhood are significant because they help the one to understand Ma's values and understand the reasoning behind her actions when she is with Jack. For instance, since she “had a three-point-seven grade point average” (p188), it shows the importance she places in education. As a result, even in Room, she taught Jack how to read and write, and play "parrot" by repeating phrases through the television.

Also, she tells Jack how she "was a kid like [him], [she] lived with [her] mother and father," and had a brother named Paul, which gives the one an idea of what Ma's life was like and an idea of how much she misses her family and her old life.

These factors could be why she would want to escape Room even if it meant putting Jack's safety in danger for a little while. Although Ma states This suggests a small selfish motive behind Ma's actions, which the one is not aware of in the book, since it is not a significant part of what Jack is thinking. This idea alters one's perspective of Ma as a selfless mother who only cares about her son's well being. Although Ma cares about Jack and wants the best for him, it is possible that she may want to get out of Room for her own sake also. Additionally, this reflects Ma's impulsiveness as when she tells Jack about her plans to escape, she does not think about it a lot before she tells him about it.