Jack: A Little Hero?

I think Room is definitely an interesting change from Memory of Running. I've been trying to write this post all weekend but I feel like we still don't really know enough yet.

I think I like Jack. His narration can be a little weird, but I don't have a problem with how he talks and I think it's an interesting perspective on the whole situation. I haven't gotten annoyed (yet?) at him, and we've been able to figure out the basic story from his explanations of his daily life. I definitely like his narration more than Vardaman (maybe even Smithy, also Jack and Smithy aren't as similar, so maybe that comparison isn't the best). With that being said, I can't understand how a 5 year old boy who has no understanding of the world would save the day.

Jack's actually inadvertently been making things even harder for Ma. As of right now, I wholeheartedly consider Ma the hero of Room. I am incredibly impressed with how she has been able to raise Jack in this tiny room and keep him out of Old Nick's way and keep him safe by muting commercials that would let him in on information about the outside world. Even while trying to keep him sheltered from what they are locked away from, she still tries every single day to get them out, with Scream and flickering the lamp. Like Gillian said in class, Ma is a saint. She's gone through hell and is still able to pretend to be happy for her child. Ma is incredibly strong; if I were locked up in a room like that I would've already gone crazy, but she's able to keep going for Jack. Maybe Jack can be seen as beneficial to Ma too, by keeping sane, but for the most part, I can't really see him as doing much more than that.

I know we can assume from the excerpt before the table of contents (from the story of Perseus) that Jack is, or is going to be, the hero of Room. At this point in the story, I can't really see how he could end up being the hero, but Ma is certainly a hero to me.

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