Room Part 4: After Quotes
Room Part 4: After Quotes
How we cite the quotes:
[Part.Paragraph]
Quote 10
Pictures in the window are like in TV but blurrier, I see cars that are parked, a cement mixer, a motorbike and a car trailer with one two three four five cars on it, that's my best number. In a front yard a kid pushing a wheelbarrow with a little kid in it, that's funny. There's a dog crossing a road with a human on a rope, I think it's actually tied, not like the daycare that were just holding on. Traffic lights changing to green and a woman with crutches hopping and a huge bird on a trash, Deana says that's just a gull, they eat anything and everything. (4.1402)
Whew, that's one paragraph. One long, exhausting paragraph. Of course, it's not exhausting to Jack. While he's listing a whole bunch of mundane objects, they're all new and fascinating for him to see. Each of these things flying by as the car zooms down the room provides Jack with an opportunity for exploration.
Quote 11
Actually I don't have the old five books now so I guess I just have the new five. The ones in Room, maybe they don't belong to anyone anymore. (4.650)
Jack personifies almost everything, so of course he worries that his old books are now homeless. To Jack, Room no longer exists. And since Jack defines a home as a place where something belongs, if his books don't belong anywhere, they don't have a home. Jack is dealing with the same problem himself. Where does he belong?
"[Dr. Clay] figures, soon you won't remember Room anymore." "I will too." I stare at [Ma]. "Am I meant to forget?" "I don't know." (4.852-4.854)
Ma is conflicted because she definitely wants to forget Room. It's where she was held captive for seven years. But she understands that it is actually home to Jack. It's where he was raised. What will he lose if he forgets his home?