Symbolism, Imagery, Allegory
Dreams Don't Come True
As Room progresses, Jack has bad dreams more frequently. Here's a taste of a couple of the nightmares:
- "I'm looking up at Roof when suddenly it lifts off and the sky rushes in and the rockets and the cows and the trees are crashing down on my head" (2.339)
- Dreams about "vampire germs" (4.967) coming to kill them.
- Ajeet is mailing them poo and somebody's breaking his bones.
- At Grandma's, Jack dreams that "Tooth is coming for me" (5.161)
Dr. Clay says that Jack's "brain is probably doing a spring cleaning" (4.1001). This is true. Jack is too young to understand what's going on around him. A lot of his dreams come from places of misunderstanding, guilt (at keeping too many toys), and fear (do we even have to list all the things he has to be afraid of at this point?) At the end of the book, Jack's just like Virginia Woolf, with a room of his own. Maybe this will allow him to put his thoughts in order and keep the bad dreams at bay.