Tug-of-War

Jack is in the middle of a "tug-of-war" of sorts when he is stuck in Room. On one hand, Ma is trying to convince him that Old Nick is "the bad guy." On the other hand, in "Unlying" Old Nick tries to act really nicely towards Jack to push the 5-year-old onto his side. We know that Ma is right that Old Nick should not be trusted, but Jack is an innocent child and doesn't know that.

Jack has spent every minute of his life with Ma and loves her very much. He knows that Ma doesn't like Old Nick, but he is not sure why. Because Jack trusts Ma so much, he sides with her. Before Ma tells Jack exactly what Old Nick did to her before she ended up in Room, Jack does not know that Nick  has done anything bad, so he doesn't have a reason to dislike his father. Jack is neutral until Ma tells him about the kidnapping. After he learns what happened, Jack forms his own opinion of Old Nick and begins to dislike him. However, Jack is a bit fickle-minded. Although he usually loves Ma, he sometimes hates her while the two are planning an escape. It's understandable that Jack thinks Ma has tricked him when Plan A doesn't work and that he is uncomfortable doing some stuff that Ma requests (like getting vomit rubbed all over his face). Jack is young and doesn't fully understand Ma's intentions, so he dislikes her sometimes when she's trying to help him.  

At first, Jack only dislikes Old Nick because Ma hates him. Jack's impression of Old Nick genuinely begins to deteriorate after Ma tells Jack what he did to her. In "Dying" Jack actually experiences Old Nick's cruelty firsthand. First, while Jack tries to run away from Old Nick, he gets bitten by a dog. Then, Old Nick drops Jack and flees while Ajeet calls the police to report Old Nick's license plate numbers. This is when Jack finally realizes for himself that Old Nick is evil.

The book is only half over, and I'm sure there's a lot more action ahead. I'm excited to read about what happens now that Ma and Jack have escaped from Room.

Ma's Stories

I greatly admire Ma for being able to raise Jack under her unfortunate conditions. Ma could easily lie in bed all day or let Jack watch unlimited TV to keep him busy, but she chooses to educate him. Every day Ma thinks of creative ways to teach Jack about math, science, reading, English, and religion, and Jack doesn't ever seem to become bored.

As Jack grows, though, Ma has to find a way to tell him about the world outside of Room while protecting his innocence. In "Unlying" we see Ma telling him stories that are supposed to teach him about the real world. First she tells Jack the mermaid story, which seems to be Ma's fantasy about what she hopes will happen. From that story it's already clear that Ma is kidnapped and taken to a place where she feels extremely uncomfortable. 

After the mermaid story, Ma begins telling stories about what her life was really like before she was captured. In the second half of "Unlying" Ma tells a few stories. She tells Jack about her childhood and about his grandparents and his uncle. Jack then starts to believe that there is a world beyond Room because he realizes that the air that enters when Old Nick opens the door is fresher than the stagnant air inside of Room. Ma also tells the story of how she ended up in Room, explaining that she was on her way to the library during her college days when Old Nick abducted her. This doesn't surprise me because it is quite clear that Ma has had some education based on the way she teaches Jack. It also matches up with the mermaid story in that Ma was forcefully taken away from her home and locked up in an inescapable prison like the mermaid. This story also confirms our suspicions that Old Nick gave Ma Jack to keep her happy. Before Jack came along, Ma really did just sit around in Room all day, feeling depressed. 

I can't wait to read more about Ma's background and am looking forward to finding out about how Jack responds to her stories.  

Smithy's Journey

The more I think about The Memory of Running, the less I see Smithy's journey across the country as a quest. When I think of the word "quest" the idea of achieving an important goal at the end of a journey comes to mind. I still haven't figured out what that goal is for Smithy. Don't get me wrong; Smithy was close to his sister, so I understand why going to California is so important to him. I know that Smithy made the decision to travel to Bethany on an impulse and that the decision was incredibly emotional, but I'm not sure what the point of his trip is. He really loved Bethany, so I can see why he wants to go all the way to California, but other than seeing his sister's body for a few minutes, I don't know what the point of going to Venice was. Smithy sacrifices a lot to get to Bethany. He loses his job and is basically left with nothing by the end of his journey, so it just seems a bit anti-climactic that once he gives up so much to see Bethany, he simply mumbles a few words to her, kisses her, and leaves.

His trip to California, however, is a different story. I think Smithy unconsciously gains a lot by embarking on his journey. He loses weight, improves his eating habits, stops drinking, and quits smoking. He also becomes an avid reader. Along the way, Smithy meets many interesting people and listens to their stories. At numerous points in the book, he says things along the lines of "the world isn't so bad." On this journey that only lasts a couple of months, he probably interacts with more people than he ever did in New Hampshire as an adult, and he starts to see that people are actually quite good. Smithy also becomes more mature in some ways, since he slowly heals his relationship with Norma through frequent phone calls and finally has the courage to deal with his awkwardness about wheelchairs by the end of the book. I think Smithy's physical health improves a lot from the journey, but also his mental and social well-being.  

From an emotional perspective, Smithy's journey was fulfilling because he got to see Bethany and he overcame his awkwardness towards Norma. His trip seemed equally rewarding from a personal perspective, since he matured and his overall lifestyle seemed to improve. Not to sound like  a cheesy hotel ad or something, but I think Smithy's lengthy journey was just as important as his destination, if not more.