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.
Everything you say here reflects upon the dilemma Ma faces with regard to Jack and Old Nick: in order to preserve Jack's innocence, she can't give him any real sense of who Nick is or what his relation to them actually is (she certainly can't give any indication that he's Jack's father). So he can easily appear like a cross between God and Santa Claus, bringing them food, medicine, and "treats." Ma realizes how paltry these "treats" are, of course, and she feels nothing like actual gratitude (for obvious reasons). But for Jack, this will all be quite confusing. He doesn't like it when Nick comes into Room, of course, and he's confused by how Ma uses a different voice when Nick is around. But these reactions seem more like jealousy, as Nick takes Ma's attention away from Jack.
ReplyDeleteOne relief of Ma being able finally to tell Jack the whole story is that now he unambiguously views Nick as a bad guy--a "swiper" and a monster whom he wants to defeat. Jack is now fully on Ma's side, and we can sense her relief once they're actively plotting together against him.