Locked in Room

Locked inside
 

When you think of the book Room, what do you think of? Jack? Old Nick? The first thing most people think of is the Room. Now there’s a way for fans of the book to experience life in a small, cramped room. Now in this limited time camp, you can be locked in a room, identical to the one in the book, for 3 days. You would be provided food and water while you are in Room. You will be able to experience the pain and anguish that the characters had to live through for 7 years. You can also go and visit the hospital where Jack and Ma were kept once they escaped. While at the hospital, you can see where Jack and Ma slept and where they ate. This is a great way to connct with the events and characters in the book. By visiting these areas, you can get a sense of the danger Jack and Ma were in throughout the whole book.

            Origin of the idea

In the book Room by Emma Donoghue, a woman is kidnapped and held in a shed that had been modified to be a prison cell. The walls are unbreakable. The door has a four digit code that only Old Nick, the person that kidnapped her, knows. Even the skylight is made out a material that couldn’t be broke even with a bomb. The woman gets raped by Old Nick almost every night. She later finds out that she is pregnant. Old Nick dosen’t want to risk her running away, so they have the baby in the room. She names the baby boy Jack. Every Sunday, Jack and Ma can ask for a treat called the Sundaytreat. Old Nick provides them with food, but if they want something like candy, they have to ask for it on Sunday. They only get one treat per week. For example, when Jack turned five they asked for five candles for their Sunday treat.  Jack said “You should ask for candles for Sundaytreat” (Page 21). Some mornings when Jack wakes up, Ma stays in bed all day. Jack calls this being “away”. Ma  does this when things are getting stressful in Room. Could you imagine being locked in a Room with a five year old and not knowing how you are going to survive the next day? People think their day’s are stressful! As the weeks keep on going, Jack starts to get more curious about Room. He starts asking questions about how they got there and who Old Nick is. Ma has to answer these questions but some of them she doesn’t have an answer for. After a while Ma gets tired of answering questions about the Outside and decides to try and escape. Their plan is simple, pretend Jack is dead and wrap him up in the carpet so Old Nick dosen’t see he is really alive. Jack has some reservations about this. He says “ Let’s do this tommorow” (page 91). He was worried that Old Nick would find out he is faking and would hurt him and Ma. As the car slowed down, Jack made a run for it. He unwrapped himself and jumped out of the truck. Old Nick saw him and started to run after him. Jack saw a man walking his dog and immedualy ran to him. If it wasn’t for that man, Old Nick would have caught him and took him back to Room. When the police finally found the room, they got Ma and took them to the Police Station. After the police station they went to a hospital, where they got treatment for their cuts and emotional abuse. As the day’s continue, Jack learns the hardships of being in the outside world. He dosen’t understand what boundries are so he does some crazy things.When Jack and his grandma are shopping, Jack recognizes a book he had in Room. He puts it in his backpack and walks out of the store. The alarms go off and they take the book out of his backpack. He gets upset because he thinks the book was his. After a while in the hospital, Jack and Ma get their own apartment with assisted living because they aren’t ready to live by themselves just yet. The book ends on a good note when Jack and Ma get their apartment and start living a normal life.

The Connection

I think this a great idea because it allows people who haven’t gone throught this, which hopefully is no one, to see what its like to be trapped in a room. When I read this book I could imagine this happening, but I couldn’t imagine what it wold be like for me. It also lets people get a better understnading of the suroundings Jack and Ma were in. You can actually see the cork tile floors. You can actually see the indestructible skylight. You can actually see the door with the four didgit code. Without this experience, you wouldn’t be able to have a full undestanding of what it was like. Also by adding the hospital to the mix, you can see where Jack and Ma got help for their physical and mental problems.

 My ideas for Room