Scave

The concept of scave is interesting and tell us a lot about the hero's journey. I believe all heroes have to go through this and this is represented really well in Room. Jack's reluctance to do what he needs to do for him and Ma to escape is portrayed really well in the book.

In the chapter of the escape Jack very often switches back and forth between wanting to escape and being too afraid of all the new information and stimuli he is going to experience. We see this when he says that they should wait until he is six and that they cant do the plan tonight and when he learns that Nick is going to have to touch him, he goes into a state of completely denying any possibility of the plan going through. In addition, every time he learns about something new in the plan he seems to go back in the same scared state where he wouldn't really be able to function.

Jack is also undoubtedly very brave. Even when things go wrong in the escape plan such as missing the first stop light, or being knocked over when Nick takes a turn onto a different street, he is able to recover in some way any finally get help to his mother.  The most surprising form of this comes in his trying to get details to the police officer while still in shock from all the stimuli around him. He is able to get the information and remember things that Ma has told after being bitten by a dog that he didn't know could exist a few days ago and pretending to be dead. This level of bravery and being able to stay in some sort of calm state is amazing in any situation and even more amazing when you consider the fact that Jack has just turned 5 and his knowledge of the world consisted of Room.

Overall, the scave aspect of Jack journey is represented very well in the book and is something that can be recognized in pretty much all heroic narratives. 

The strange intelligence of Old Nick

One aspect of the first few chapters of Room that stood out to me was the sort of twisted smartness that Old Nick was described with. Although most criminals would be smart enough to trick someone unknowing into getting into their car. It seems sort of strange that he would be willing to go to such lengths just to kidnap someone. The two situations that this would be realistic in would be if it was just a plot device to make Jack have to be the one who helped get out, or if he took pride in planning everything out and being able to utilize all his tools.

In terms of why he is smart, we see this first in terms of his renovations to the shed. He puts basically a foot of soundproof padding in, along with all the necessities for daily life and some more including a tv. He seems to take into account that the mental health of the person he kidnaps has to be sort of stable or none of this would be worth it, but we don't really know his motivations. The garden shed also has the fence so that you couldn't cut your way out of it and other protections including the door lock.

In addition to the physical restrictions that Nick has placed on these people, he also has a strong mental grasp on Ma and many cards to play if they try to deceive him or revolt against their capture. He can starve them, cut off the electricity, and not bring them and food or other necessities. He is also much stronger physically than the undernourished victims as can be seen in how Ma's wrist gets broken after she tries to overpower him. With Jack in the equation, the threat of him getting hurt is also a card that Nick can play and something that Ma is very worried about. He never really has to play this card, but the fact that it is there is such a large factor in how he keeps them in check. Ma is in such a state that she basically needs Jack to stay mentally functioning, and although Nick probably doesn't want her in a suicidal state, shes want Jack to stay alive and with her more than she thinks about Nick objectives and the fact that Nick would probably not hurt Jack to a very severe extent.

All of these above factor coupled with Nick also trying to get favor with Jack in some ways, as with the jeep, paint a very complex picture of the victims relationship with their captor. Although Nick is definitely in the wrong, he seems to be able to think through enough that he doesn't get caught until Ma uses Jack to outsmart him. 

Thoughts on the ending of Memory of Running

Although there were mixed reactions to the ending of this book, I thought it was fairly good. One point that might be argued against it is the cheesiness of the ending, and the sort of perfectly fitting and almost creepy appearance of Norma when Smithy is with Bethany. I think that this ending works, with Smithy's incredibly bad luck it feels like something good should happen to him and Norma showing up seems to fill that hole.

I think the ending also resolves Bethany's narrative fairly well. Although I would have liked more explanation about what happened between when she left and her death, but her family doesn't know so it makes sense that we don't get the whole picture. In addition, Smithy is able to distance himself and move on from his sister's presence, and this is shown through his taking her advice and moving away from being fat as well as her disappearing into the clouds.

The Norma/"I love you" story line also finished up pretty well. We get the culmination of all the phone calls and near "love" drops, but the way the book ends really solidifies it and makes you certain that their relationship is progressing in some way. I enjoyed that there was something here that Smithy could look forward to in terms of someone who can understand where he comes from and support him after the has pretty much lost everything.

Overall, I like this ending because is shows us that Smithy has something good happen to him after everything that he has been through. It also gives us some understanding of what this journey gave him.