Looking
back on Emma Donoghuge's Room is a sad-happy place to be. You
see all that Ma and Jack have overcome, all they've accomplished. I thought
that there would be no satisfying way to end this book. And yet, Donoghuge
pulls through.
We get to see so much character development from
both Ma and Jack all in the final scene where they return to Room. We see how
much they've really grown. One definite sign of growth is that Jack finally
notices the smell in Room. In the beginning, he was so defensive of Room when
Ma said it was stinky. Of course he would never notice a smell if he's lived
his whole life surrounded in it.
Similarly, when they go back, Jack is
confused because the shed looks too small to be Room. Jack's world grew
significantly in his time outside as did he himself. Not only does Room seem
physically smaller in comparison to the rest of the world but it seems much
smaller in the sense that it would be much more confining. He is finally able
to see it as the prison that it was and that Ma always saw it as.
And the most striking difference of all is
definitely the last words of the book: “the door.” One of the first things you
notice when you start reading the book is the anthropomorphization of certain
objects and places in Room. It shows that he thinks they are the only ones and
that they’re somehow special when actuality there are millions of other beds
and rugs and walls. So when he finally calls Door “the door,” it shows massive
personal growth. He’s learned about the world and his views expanded and he’s
learned to accept that Room isn’t the limits of the universe. And they were
finally able to move on.
I also really appreciated the ending of Room. There was part of me that was scared that Jack would return to Room and feel the same connection to the place that he had when they left. The book was very unpredictable so it was hard to be certain the ending would be- maybe not happy, but at least a good jumping off point for Ma and Jack to continue their lives. Also btw your project for Room was really cool.
ReplyDeleteI really like this post, because it conveys almost everything I thought about as I read that last chapter of Room. I could see so much growth in especially Jack, because of these small things that you pointed out like him noticing the smell, saying it looked smaller, and calling Door "the door." It makes me really happy to see Jack moving on, and I think after this visit, he will have a much easier time getting used to the world and slowly forget/grow less attached to the idea of Room.
ReplyDeleteAnd doors are also fraught with symbolism in terms of the hero's journey--stepping over the threshold into the unknown. It is indeed crucial that Jack now sees this as "the door"--just one among many that he's walked through lately, nothing that holds any power over him. And it's also significant that he does NOT want it closed when they are touring Room--he now understands that it represents confinement. But stepping *through* the door at the very end is a movement toward freedom (and, literally, "Independent Living"). He will walk through the door and never go back, literally and figuratively.
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