Literary References in Room
Room has a lot of references to various literary works. I know I already went over some in class, but now that we're deeper into the novel I wanted to revisit some of the stories mentioned. Since most of the stories we had discussed had been about imprisonment, now seems about the right time to talk about the references now that Jack and Ma have escaped.
The Count of Monte Cristo: Okay so most of you probably aren't familiar with this one. The Count of Monte Cristo follows a man named Edmond Dantès who is wrongfully accused of a crime and sentenced to prison on the dismal island penitentiary known as Château d'If. The whole story is about the revenge that the imprisoned Edmond Dantès enacts upon those who landed him in the prison. Now that Ma and Jack are out of the prison that Old Nick made for them, they are trying to take back their lives and caused Old Nick to be sent to a cell instead. I think this qualifies as a revenge plot, but Ma and Jack don't have much say in Old Nick's actual punishment.
The Count of Monte Cristo: Okay so most of you probably aren't familiar with this one. The Count of Monte Cristo follows a man named Edmond Dantès who is wrongfully accused of a crime and sentenced to prison on the dismal island penitentiary known as Château d'If. The whole story is about the revenge that the imprisoned Edmond Dantès enacts upon those who landed him in the prison. Now that Ma and Jack are out of the prison that Old Nick made for them, they are trying to take back their lives and caused Old Nick to be sent to a cell instead. I think this qualifies as a revenge plot, but Ma and Jack don't have much say in Old Nick's actual punishment.
Alice in Wonderland: This one is also very self explanatory. Jack goes out into Outside and everything looks very weird to him. The hospital is a bleak new world, all the people he meets are bizarre to him, and it is almost like a dream to him. You could also say that Ma could be Alice, but the outside world is the normal world, whereas "Wonderland" was the isolated Room, and that she has awoken from a bad dream back into the real world like Alice does at the end of the story.
Jack and the Beanstalk: We did all see Jack "killing the giant" coming, but the fact that the whole escape is mostly Jack's doing is more reminiscent of the story I grew up on. When Jack recounts the story, he says that "Jack" helps his mother cut down the beanstalk, but in the real scenario it is just Jack against the Giant.
Nice observations. Another thing about Jack and the Beanstalk, the Jack in the fairy tale climbs up into the dwelling of the giant, which has a bunch of money and stuff. Similarly, Room's Jack ventures out into a world he's never seen with his own eyes before, and their life outside the Room is much better than their old life.
ReplyDeleteRevenge isn't as central to Ma and Jack's plot as it is in the Count's. There is the implication that Nick (not his real name, remember) will face justice, but the novel is more concerned with Ma and Jack's recovery and survival. But the _Count of Monte Cristo_ is a crucial source text for the "Great Escape"--Ma has told Jack this story, and we see him explicitly imagining himself as the Count being thrown into the sea when he's "in Rug." The Count is literally a heroic role model for Jack, along with a range of other protagonist "Jacks" he's learned about.
ReplyDeleteNice post! I think it's really interesting how Jack uses narratives already familiar to him to provide a sort of structure to his understanding of the outside world. Especially since some of these stories are familiar to readers, it provides insights into how Jack can begin to comprehend something unimaginable to him.
ReplyDeleteI find it really interesting how Jack keeps thinking of these various literary works in Outside, too (he regularly mentions Alice). But I think these stories are more crucial to Jack's understanding of the Great Escape. There's only so much a five-year-old can understand about the importance and details of this plan having never experienced the real world and not fully understanding the consequences of Old Nick imprisoning them. The Count of Monte Cristo helps Jack understand the basis for Plan B, and Alice in Wonderland helps him understand Ma's life story.
ReplyDeleteNice post! I think another analogy for Alice in Wonderland and jacks current situation is the scene the mad tea party, since, at least for jack, many of the things people say and also how they act seem almost completely nonsensical.
ReplyDeleteThese stories allow Jack to better understand his situation, as he often draws parallels from something in his life to something in one of the stories. All the stories include an escape, which I think helps Jack comprehend his and Ma's situation. We talked in class about how Ma has been preparing Jack for an escape and life in the outside world his whole life, and I think the stories are another example of it. Ma probably chose to expose Jack to these books since she realized how similar their situations were.
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