Room

            I just finished reading the book Room by Emma Donoghue. This is probably the most perplexing book I have ever read. Not perplexing as in I couldn't understand it, but more the fact that I couldn't imagine half the things in the book. It's almost disturbing in a way once you come to realize all the things this little boy, Jack, has come to see. Or actually, the lack of things he has seen. His mind has narrowed down to such little perspective that it makes us think about how much we see and know. He is five years old and has lived with is mother in a room for is whole life. His mother was kidnapped and raped in that room, and then he was born. But this intelligent little boy rescued himself and his mother. 
            I can't even imagine half the things he hasn't seen in his whole life. To grow up in such a limited environment is very confusing but it's pretty normal for Jack because he hasn't seen anything but the contents of that room. Everything in TV is not real to Jack. It's all just things made up in the world. When he is rescued he can't believe so much is actually real. I don't understand how Jack's mother copes with being in a room for 7 years. The only thing she has left to care for is her son. 
           A lot of this book is based upon routine.Life for Jack only goes so far. He wakes up, has his breakfast, and does many activities with his mother. It's his only pastime. That and watching TV. How does he even stand doing just that? But you grow accustomed to things as you spend more time practicing them. Jack must stay in the wardrobe when his father (the kidnapper) comes for his nightly "visits". Jack lives in this twisted world where he thinks that there is nothing out there except for the things in Room. 
         When Jack and his mother are rescued, Jack must get accustomed to everything he discovers. He realizes slowly that things in TV actually exist. It's a lot of things for his small mind to process especially since he has grown so used to Room. Jack actually wants to go back to his Room because he feels that it's only right and that Room is his home. 
         Jack has a lot to deal with because once you grow up seeing only a limited amount of things, you want to forget other things that you thought never existed. You don't want to accept that those things exist.