Introduction

Emma Donoghue’s Room is a 2010 novel about a boy named Jack who lives in a single room with his mother, Ma. Room is a crime thriller novel that explores themes of trauma, innocence, and adaptability through the eyes of five-year-old narrator, Jack. Room has received many awards, including the ALA Alex Award, the Indies Choice Book Award for Fiction, and The New York Times Book Review Best Book of the Year award. Room was adapted to a screenplay, which was released in 2015.

Content Warning: Room and the contents of this study guide feature depictions of rape, violence, death by suicide, still birth, child endangerment, abuse through neglect, and imprisonment.

Plot Summary

Jack is a five-year-old boy who has lived his entire life with his mother, Ma, inside Room—a single-room dwelling with a kitchen area, plumbing, and a bed. Jack does not know anyone else in the world except Old Nick, who visits Room through the beeping padlocked door and rapes Ma regularly—though Jack does not understand this and refers to it as “squeak[ing]” the bed.

Jack and Ma fill their days with education, activities, mealtimes, and hygiene practices. They have a weekday activity called Scream, where they get close to the skylight—Room’s only window—and scream, then wait and listen. Jack also gets to watch a little television each day. Ma says everything on television is fake. Jack believes the world outside of Room is outer space.

Old Nick does not visit the night of Jack’s fifth birthday, so Jack sleeps in bed with Ma. When Old Nick does visit, Jack must sleep in the wardrobe. He has only ever seen Old Nick through the slats in the wardrobe doors because Ma does not want Old Nick looking at Jack. Old Nick brings a remote-controlled Jeep as a gift. Ma does not like Old Nick giving gifts to Jack, but Jack loves it. The next night, while Old Nick is visiting, Jack activates the Jeep and it rolls off the shelf onto Old Nick’s head. He wakes up and attacks Ma, thinking she is attacking him.

The next morning, Ma’s neck is bruised, and when they do Scream, Ma screams louder and longer than ever. During TV time, Jack notices the painkillers in a commercial are the same ones Old Nick brings Ma for her toothaches. Ma admits some things on television are real. She tells Jack about the Outside. Jack does not believe it at first, but the more stories Ma tells, the more Jack realizes she is not tricking him.

Jack overhears Old Nick and Ma talking. Old Nick has been jobless for six months and he is running out of money. Ma is concerned. Old Nick notices Jack through the slats in the wardrobe doors and tries to coax him out with a lollipop. Jack stays put. After Old Nick rapes Ma, Jack sneaks out to find the lollipop, waking Old Nick. When Old Nick tries to interact with Jack, Ma screams.

The next morning, Old Nick cuts the power to punish Ma for screaming, and Room gets very cold. Ma tells Jack about her family outside of Room. Old Nick abducted her when she was 19 by tricking her into helping him find his dog. Jack realizes Old Nick is a bad guy. They go without power for a few more days.

The morning after the power returns, Jack wakes to a new grocery delivery from Old Nick. Jack thinks everything is fine now, but Ma says it is time to plan an escape. They pretend Jack has a severe stomach bug, hoping Old Nick will take Jack to the hospital, where Jack will alert the doctors that he and Ma need help. Old Nick believes Jack has been sick, but says he will bring medication tomorrow. Jack thinks their plan failed, but Ma explains Plan B.

Now Jack is to pretend to be dead. Ma wants to roll him up in the rug and have Old Nick take Jack to bury him. Jack will escape from the rug in the bed of Old Nick’s truck, jump out, and find help. Jack is scared, but Ma insists they must do this, and Jack will be her hero. Jack has a tooth that fell out of Ma’s mouth. He stores it in his sock before Ma rolls him up in the rug.

When Old Nick arrives, Ma screams at him and blames him for Jack’s death. Old Nick is apologetic, and he promises to bury Jack far away from the house. He takes Jack away in his truck bed. Jack struggles to get out of the rug, and when he does, Old Nick spots him. Jack jumps out and finds a man walking a dog. The man questions Jack. Old Nick grabs Jack and tries to take him away. The man calls police, and Old Nick drops Jack and runs, driving off quickly. When the police arrive, Jack struggles to talk, but he manages to help them find the house. Jack is happy to be reunited with Ma but wants to go back to Room to sleep.

Ma gives her statement to the police before she and Jack are sent to a psychiatric hospital to stay temporarily. Jack is amazed at all the things outside of Room. At the hospital, a news story about Ma and Jack is already running on television, featuring images of them walking into the precinct. The doctors examine Ma to collect evidence.

Over the next few days, Jack slowly adjusts his worldview while Ma works with doctors to process her trauma. Jack and Ma reunite with Ma’s mom, Grandma, and brother, Paul, who is now married with a toddler. Jack experiences new things like going outside. He has bad dreams at night.

Ma agrees to a television interview, but Jack will not let her go without him. Their lawyer stresses that Jack is not to be recorded on camera, but when Ma breaks down at the reporter’s line of questioning regarding the decisions Ma made for Jack, Jack rushes up to hug her.

The next day, Ma is not well, so Paul and his wife, Deana, take Jack to the mall with their daughter. Jack gets a new backpack. He is fascinated with everything he sees. He steals a book, thinking it is his same copy from Room. Paul pays the store owner after he confronts them about Jack’s theft.

When they get back to the psychiatric hospital, Jack discovers Ma in an unresponsive state, having taken an overdose of pills—though Jack does not understand this. Jack goes to stay with Grandma and his step-grandpa, Steppa. Ma stays in the clinic, and Jack does not understand why he cannot join her.

At Grandma’s, Jack faces many new challenges. Grandma takes Jack to the park, but he is scared to play with other kids, so they go again early in the morning so Jack can enjoy the equipment by himself. Jack keeps Ma’s old rotten tooth in his mouth when he is distressed.

When Ma is released, she and Jack move into an independent living facility. Jack wishes to see Room again. Ma does not want to, but she agrees to go with Jack. The police escort them there. Ma throws up in Old Nick’s backyard. When Jack enters Room, he says goodbye to all his old, personified friends. Ma cries, and they leave.