We have all heard the African proverb that says: “It takes a village to raise a child”. The answer given in Emma Donoghue's novel Room simply says: "If you have a village. But if you don’t, then maybe it just takes two people” (Donoghue 234). For Jack, Room is where he was born and raised for the past five years; it’s his home and his world. Jack's "mom", on the other hand, knows that Room is not a house, in fact, it is a prison. Since Ma's kidnapping seven years ago, she had survived in the shed in her captor's garden. This novel contains literary elements that are not only crucial to the story, but also give it meaning. The point of view brings a powerful perspective to the audience, while the setting and atmosphere not only affects the characters but evokes emotion and gives the reader a mental picture of their lives, as well as the impacting theme as well as conflicts, both internal. and external, are shown throughout the novel. The author chooses to write the novel through the eyes of the main character and narrator, Jack. Jack's perception of the world is limited to an eleven-foot square room. His world consists only of the objects in his room and his mother. Due to his limited knowledge of the outside world, the narrator uses personification which allows the reader to see his life through his eyes. “Good night, Lamp and Balloon.” I wait for Mom but she doesn't say any more. “Good night Jeep and good night Remote. Good night, Rug, and good night, blanket, and good night, bugs, and don't bite. (Donoghue 61) In this passage, Jack is doing his nightly routine of saying goodnight to different objects in the room that are important to him. He is taught, through his mother's choice,...... middle of paper... something happened” (Donoghue 321). The bedroom wasn't just a place for Jack; that was his life for the first five years. It was a place where something happened, something that would change the rest of his and Mom's lives. Emma Donoghue does a fantastic job giving the audience the perspective of a child who survived life in a shed and is now experiencing life for the first time. The setting and atmosphere bring a real emotion to the reader that allows people to possibly get a glimpse of what that kind of life could be like. Survival is a recurring theme that appears throughout the novel. The conflicts each character faces inspire the reader and make you think that maybe what we are going through right now might not be so bad. Works Cited Donoghue, Emma. BEDROOM. Toronto, Ontario, Canada: HarperCollins Publishers Ltd., 2010. Print.