'Writing, when properly handled... is just a different name for conversation... Trueest respect you may grant to the reader's understanding is to halve this matter amicably, and leave it to him to imagine, in his turn, as well as to yourself. (Laurence Sterne) Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay The importance of Room, a 2010 novel written by Emma Donoghue, lies in its authentic and yet accessible study of the character of Jack and of his mother, who are held captive and then escape. Due to the careful choice of language and the naturally distorted perspective of the main character, who is a child, readers are immersed in the story, as they attempt to discover their true psychological state. The representation of a kidnapping, a detention in captivity then a flight. is often sensationalist in reporting, with fictional literature having the opportunity to focus more on the individual, subjective suffering of victims. “While Room recreates the private trauma of recent real-life cases, which usually remain hidden from the public, it goes beyond how the media is able to represent such cases, making the process of reading Room an experience potentially voyeuristic” (Dinter 55). ). This is a novel that offers more than a story about a tragedy or a story of before and after the traumatic event. Rather, its main focus is the innocent mind of a child, who is faced with enormous distress without having the mental capacity to understand it. The slow process of growing up under difficult circumstances and then being overwhelmed by the outside world offers a new perspective on such a peculiar situation that is usually portrayed by much older characters. Having a child narrator provides a unique opportunity for the entire story to unfold. become an “in-the-making” – a story that is developed and further explored by the audience. “Because child narrators are unable to control the effects of their environments, they are trapped as observers and sometimes unwitting participants in their situation. Children have a limited perspective, but their voice can push those limits” (Farrow, 13). They are simply passive narrators who inform the audience of what is happening in the story. Jack is the perfect example: a 5-year-old boy, born to a mother who was kidnapped and then repeatedly raped and abused. His understanding of the world is strictly limited to the small room in which they are both held against their will and a television that gives him a tiny glimpse of the outside world. The ignorance inherent in his young age as well as his protective mechanism of blocking certain events makes Jack an unreliable but authentic narrator. “In the wardrobe I always try to close my eyes and switch off quickly so I don't hear old Nick coming, then I'll be in bed with Mum having it and everything's fine” (Donoghue 33). Jack senses that Old Nick is hurting his mother while the reader knows that what is really happening is rape. This not only makes us more empathetic and emotionally involved in the story, but we are also asked to focus more on his mother, whose adversity is not directly acknowledged. In the chapter “Unlying,” he states, “She won’t wake up properly. It's there, but not really. She stays in bed with the pillows on her head” (Donoghue 74). It is impossible for such a young character to give a more informative descriptionof her condition, and yet we, informed readers, can assume that she is going through a depressive episode. This is a common occurrence in the book, leading us to always look for traces of information about how she gets away with it. The outward expression of trauma clearly varies between the two and Jack's narration is neither capable of capturing the full situational context nor the emotional repercussions. What is unconventional about this novel is how easily the main character seems to be in such a horrible situation. The innocence, ignorance of youth, and Ma's deliberate invention of stories to protect Jack make the book more accessible to a wider audience. “Physical distance gives the narrator an inaccessible and godlike status, because the narrator finds himself in a situation that the reader can never reach. Therefore, the reader cannot offensively question the narrator's representation of his environment and must take certain parts of the story literally, due to the spatial circumstances. The descriptions of the Room harm our imagination and our perception of Jack and Mom's living conditions. Each sentence is a stated fact that sometimes needs to be thought about critically, keeping in mind that Jack's point of view is the only one we will ever get. Clarity comes when the main characters are released and spend time in a clinic, where they undergo healing. What readers get is a dialogue between our two main characters with staff and family, which allows us to get to know them better, but Jack's narrative becomes troubled due to unfamiliarity with the "outside" . At this point, it is his mother, Ma, who becomes the centerpiece of this book, especially as we see her interacting with the doctors and her family. "He and mom talk about things like why she can't sleep, tachycardia and reliving." Although Jack does not understand the meaning of these terms, for us it is an important clue to what could easily be post-traumatic stress disorder. The language becomes most direct when Jack witnesses an interview with his mother, where she describes their stunning ordeal to a television presenter. For the first time, we can correctly fill in all the gaps in the story, which until now was just vague guesswork based on fractions of information provided by a child. It is also a time when morality and ethics must be judged by the public; the questions asked by the television presenter are so impudent that we feel directly interrogated. Ma is asked if she has ever considered asking Old Nick, the man who kidnapped, raped and abused her in every way possible, to take her child away from her, "to leave him outside of a hospital, for example, so that he can be adopted.” (Donoghue 33). We are faced with a dilemma of which the child narrator himself is completely unaware, while emphasizing it deeply to Ma, who actually had to make this choice. This is the pinnacle of Donoghue's writing, as the stakes for a dialogue between the reader and Ma could not be higher. It's not uncommon to question the value of having such a young main character, one with limited life experience. Jessica Lynn Griffin Farrow admits in her lead article titled The Struggle to Survive and Thrive: Assessing the Cognitive Complexities of Trauma and Recovery in Emma Donoghue's Room that "Some critics may argue that childish narration does a disservice to readers. Children are not as attentive to their surroundings, which means the reader is responsible for filling in the blanks