Room: Unlying Summary & Analysis

In the morning, Jack notices some marks on Ma’s neck. When Jack points them out, Ma doesn’t respond to him. Jack apologizes for making his jeep fall down in the middle of the night—Ma says that Old Nick thought she was attacking him. Jack laughs, thinking the situation silly, but Ma explains it’s “the opposite of funny.” After TV and a bath, Ma and Jack have Phys Ed class. While Ma prepares lunch, Jack plays with his jeep, steering it around with his hands since the remote doesn’t work anymore. After lunch they read a while, and Jack can tell that Ma is sick of most of the books in Room. After reading some Alice in Wonderland, Jack breastfeeds, and then he and Ma play Scream again. During Scream, Jack can’t stop staring at the marks on Ma’s neck.

After Scream, Ma and Jack amuse themselves with more games. They play “Keypad,” where Jack enters various numbers into the keypad by Door in hopes of making it open. After Dress-up and measuring things with Ruler, Jack and Ma play cards. When it is 5:01, Jack proclaims that it’s dinner time. After dinner, Ma and Jack watch TV—and Jack is startled when an advertisement for Ma’s painkillers is on. Jack is confused, and tells Ma that Old Nick must “go in TV” for the supplies he brings them. Ma quickly hurries Jack to bed.

Jack asks more questions about the difference between “real” and “TV”—and Ma tries to explain that the things they see on TV are actually “pictures of real things.” Jack is shocked, and asks if Dora is real. Ma tries to explain the difference between TV and cartoons. Jack believes Ma is “tricking” him as she tries to tell him that there is a world outside Room—a world that is not Outer Space. Jack begs Ma to tell him everything, but she says she can’t think of the right words, and will explain the rest tomorrow.

In the morning, Ma is “Gone”—occasionally, she has Gone days where she is not present and stays in bed all day. Jack fixes himself breakfast, gets dressed, and tries to pass the “hundreds” of hours in the day by watching endless programs on TV. He is mesmerized by the idea that TV is “pictures of real things.” He cannot imagine all the things he sees on TV existing in the world, and he “can’t breathe right” suddenly.

Jack makes himself lunch at lunchtime and measures more things in Room with Ruler. He reads himself all of his books, including Alice in Wonderland. Occasionally, he goes over to Bed and checks on Ma—the marks around her neck have turned purple, and Jack wishes he could kick Old Nick. Jack watches so much TV he starts to feel sick, but he is unable to find anything else to do. He continues pondering which things on TV are actually real—he wishes he could ask Ma, but he knows she won’t respond. After eating some cold canned beans for dinner, Jack puts himself to bed in Wardrobe—but “want[s] some very much.” Even though he’s afraid Old Nick might come, Jack gets into Bed with Ma and lies near her.

The next morning, Ma is up and about, and Jack helps her complete chores like flipping Mattress, dusting, and making a grocery list. Jack begs Ma to ask for candy for their Sundaytreat, but Ma doesn’t want Jack to end up with bad teeth like hers. After chores, Jack and Ma read together, and Jack stares at the marks on Ma’s neck wondering if they’ll ever go away. That night, in the middle of the night, Jack wakes up to Ma flicking Lamp on and off again over and over.

On Saturday, after a day of cartoons, games, and a diner of mini pizzas, Jack asks for a brand-new story. Ma begins telling Jack a story about a mermaid who is captured by a fisherman. The fisherman brings the mermaid home to his cottage, where he forces her to marry him and have a baby. The mermaid searches each day while the fisherman is out fishing for an escape—and one day, she finds it, and returns to the sea. The story upsets Jack and makes him cry. Ma looks at her watch and sees that it’s nearly 8:30—she hurries Jack into Wardrobe.

Old Nick arrives and complains about the pungent smell of food in Room. Ma suggests putting in an extractor fan to help with the stuffiness, but Old Nick berates Ma for her stupidity and says he might as well “stick a flashing neon arrow on the roof.” Old Nick reminds Ma how “good” she and Jack have things in Room, and Ma quickly agrees, thanking Old Nick for taking such good care of her and Jack. Jack nervously counts his teeth. Soon, Lamp shuts off, and Jack counts 97 creaks. Even after everything goes quiet, Jack can’t fall asleep.

Sunday night, during dinner, Ma reaches into her mouth and pulls out a bite of food—Bad Tooth is stuck in the mush. Ma says she’s relieved to be rid of Bad Tooth. Jack says Ma should put Bad Tooth under her pillow, but Ma says the tooth fairy doesn’t know about Room. Jack begins thinking about what’s outside of Room, and starts wondering if he and Ma are “still real” if they’re the “only ones” not outside. After dinner, when Ma tells Jack a story, Jack asks her if her fairy tales are real. She explains that they’re a “different kind of true.” Jack asks if the Berlin Wall is “true.” Ma says there was a wall, but it’s not there anymore. Jack feels exhausted and falls asleep quickly.

That night, Jack awakens to the sounds of Ma and Old Nick arguing. Ma is begging for more vitamins and fresh vegetables, but Old Nick complains about money. He explains, in a fit of frustration, that he’s been laid off from his job for six whole months. When Ma asks Old Nick how he’s going to pay the bills, Old Nick speaks roughly to her. Jack, afraid Old Nick is going to hurt Ma again, makes a sound. Old Nick comes over to Wardrobe and peers in through the slats at Jack, asking Ma if she keeps him locked up “all day as well as all night.” Ma insists that Jack is just “shy,” and begs Old Nick to come to bed. Old Nick warns Ma not to forget about where she got Jack. Lamp shuts off, and though Jack tries not to count the creaks tonight, he can’t help it.

Jack wakes in the middle of the night. Curious to see what Old Nick looks like, he steps out of Wardrobe and stands over Old Nick, watching him. Old Nick’s eyes snap open and he calmly greets Jack—but Ma, hearing what’s happening, begins screaming at the top of her lungs for Old Nick to leave Jack alone. Jack races back into Wardrobe. Old Nick calls Ma a “basket case.” Ma reminds Old Nick of a deal they struck long ago—she stays quiet so long as Old Nick leaves Jack alone. Even after Jack hears Door beep, Ma doesn’t come for him—inside Wardrobe, scared and alone, he has trouble falling asleep.

In the morning, Jack wakes up in Bed with Ma. He apologizes for the night before and asks Ma what Old Nick meant by where Ma “got” Jack. Ma explains that Old Nick thinks Jack “belong[s]” to him. Jack laughs at the idea. Ma tries to turn Lamp on, but nothing happens. Ma looks at Thermostat and realizes that Old Nick has cut the power in Room. It is freezing outside, and as Ma and Jack go about their routine, Jack’s ears, toes, and fingers hurt from the cold. Jack asks Ma if the cold will get worse—Ma assures Jack that it’s nearly April, and the weather is getting warmer.

Ma and Jack try to ignore the cold by playing games as they wait for the power to come back on. They nearly run out of things to do as the hours pass. When it’s time for dinner, Ma prepares all the food that’s most perishable—cheese and broccoli. Ma and Jack sing songs as they get ready for bed, and Jack asks if the power will be back on tomorrow. Ma apologizes to Jack and explains that the power has been cut because Old Nick is angry with Ma for screaming the night before.

When Ma and Jack wake up the next morning, the air is even colder. Jack says he’s happy that Old Nick didn’t come in the night, and he wishes aloud that Old Nick would never come back. Ma explains that if Old Nick stayed away forever, they’d have no food. After breakfast, Ma and Jack do lots of Phys Ed to try to warm up, but they both get tired very quickly.

Ma tells Jack that she wants to tell him a story and pulls him into her arms inside Rocker. Ma begins telling Jack a story. She asks him to think about Alice, and how she wasn’t always in Wonderland—Jack remembers how Alice fell down a large hole by accident into the other realm. Ma explains that she is like Alice: she’s “from somewhere else.” Ma tries to tell Jack about her life before Room—she explains she had a mother and father who adopted her, and a brother named Paul, and they all lived in a big house with a hammock in the yard. Jack has a hard time understanding the story as real and focusing, but Ma insists he keep listening.

The more Ma tries to tell Jack about her life outside of Room, the less Jack seems to understand. He asks her if she really “lived in TV one time,” and the frustrated Ma responds that she once lived in the real world—a world of which Room is just one “tiny stinky piece.” Jack accuses Ma of trying to trick him, but Ma promises that she wouldn’t lie to Jack. When he was smaller, he was too little to understand, so she had to simplify things—but now, she says, she is “unlying.” Jack begins listening more intently to Ma, and asks her questions about how Old Nick made Room. Ma ruefully explains that Room is entirely sound-proofed, a fact about which Old Nick loves to boast.

When Ma spots a leaf on top of Skylight later in the afternoon, she helps Jack climb up on Table to get a better look. As Jack looks up at the leaf, he becomes confused and upset and accuses Ma of lying about “Outside.” Jack sits on the floor and plays alone with his jeep while Ma angrily bustles around the kitchen, counting how many rations she and Jack have left. Room grows colder and colder.

After a dinner of cereal, Ma and Jack get into bed early—there is nothing else for them to do. They play word games until they grow tired. As he gets sleepier, Jack asks some questions about the world outside, and Ma answers them. 

In the morning, the air in Room is still frigid. Ma is on the floor, banging on the ground. Jack asks Ma what she’s doing, and she tells him she “need[ed] to hit something.” As Ma and Jack share a bagel for breakfast, Jack notices that they can see their breaths. Jack asks Ma if her parents and brother can come visit Room—Ma says she prays they will every night before bed, but admits that her family doesn’t know where Room is. Jack suggests they consult Dora’s map. Ma tells him that Room is “not on any map.”

After Phys Ed, Jack spots through Skylight an airplane flying overhead and is excited to see something “real.” There is hardly any food left in Room—for lunch, Ma and Jack are forced to share seven crackers and some rancid cheese. Jack asks Ma if they can go Outside “tomorrow.” Ma explains that they are held prisoner by Old Nick, and since he is the only one who knows the code to Keypad, they cannot leave. Ma begins crying. Jack gets scared and worries aloud that Old Nick will never uncut the power or bring more food. Ma says she’s sure he will.

It is growing dark outside, and Jack is getting hungry again. Ma tells Jack that she needs to share a new story with him—a story about how she came to be in Room. Ma explains that when she was 19, Old Nick “stole” her from a parking lot on her college’s campus after telling her that he needed help with his sick dog. The story confuses Jack, who keeps asking questions about details such as the dog’s name and how many wheels Old Nick’s truck had. Ma begs Jack to focus on what matters as she continues her story. She tells him that Old Nick blindfolded her and drove her away from her college. Jack tells Ma that he wants a different story, but Ma insists on Jack listening to “what happened.” 

Ma explains that, at first, she slept 16 hours a day due to the depression she felt at being sequestered in Room. She was sick and scared, and she left the TV on for such long stretches of time that she started to hallucinate. Ma tried to escape Room by attempting to crack Skylight and dig through the floor—but once she got through the cork floor, she realized that Old Nick had lined the walls and ground of Room with chain-link fence. 

Jack says he wants to “have a mutiny” against Old Nick and hurt him. Ma says hurting Old Nick doesn’t work—one time, she smashed the lid of the toilet tank over his head as he walked in Door, but she didn’t do it hard enough and Old Nick shut Door. Ma pressed a knife to Old Nick’s throat and ordered him to give her the code—but he gave her false numbers, and while she was pressing them into Keypad, he twisted her wrist and broke it, taking the knife back from her. Jack now understands why one of Ma’s wrists always hurts her. He begins to cry, and though he wishes he could say something to Ma, no words will come out.

Ma explains that she and Jack can’t try to hurt Old Nick again, and then goes quiet. Jack understands why Ma has told him her “terrible story:” she wants them to escape. Jack falls asleep, and when he wakes again in the middle of the night, Lamp has come back on—the power is back.