3. Author Biography
Emma Donoghue was born in Dublin in 1969. She is a writer of
contemporary and historical fiction whose novels include the
bestselling Slammerkin, The Sealed Letter, Landing, Life Mask,
Hood, and Stirfry.
She is the youngest of eight children; not surprisingly, she
attended Catholic convent schools in Dublin. Her BA (1990) is in
English and French from University College Dublin. She later
moved to England to do her PhD at Cambridge (1997) on the
concept of friendship between men and women in eighteenth-
century English fiction.
From the age of 23, she has earned a living as a writer. She now
lives in London, Ontario, with her partner and their two children.
4. Emma Donoghue on Room
I borrowed
observations, jokes,
kid grammar and
whole dialogues from
our son Finn, who
was five while I was
writing it. Room was
also inspired by...
ancient folk motifs of
walled-up virgins who
give birth (e.g.
Rapunzel), often to
heroes (e.g. Danaë
and Perseus).
5. Historical Context
Room was also inspired by the Fritzl family’s
escape from their dungeon in Austria
One day in 1984, 18 year old Elisabeth Fritzl helped
her all ready abusive father install a door in the
basement. There he handcuffed her, drugged her,
and kept her captive for 24 years, during which time
over she bore seven children. The torture took place
just feet from his wife Rosemarie, just a few floors
down from his tenants; just down the street from the
butcher, the baker and the post office.
6. Style
The style is deceptively simple in terms of
word choice and sentence structure, yet it
was likely quite complicated to write prose
that both told the story and accurately
reflected the speech of the narrator. To
achieve this perspective, Donoghue studied
both cases of children born of rape and
autistic children.
7. The Narrator
Her narrator, five year old Jack, has a
sophisticated vocabulary that reflects his
above average education. His clumsy way of
speaking gives readers the feel of a small
child, but Donoghue manages to keep the
coherence of an older person. The narration
is informative, familiar, private, and intimate.
Because of his living situation, of course, the
young narrator’s perspective is very narrow.
10. QHQs: Presents
1. What is the room?
2. Who is old Nick?
3. Why is the novel narrated by five year old Jack and
not 27 year old Ma’?
4. What would be the advantages of having the story
told from Ma’s point of view?
11. QHQs: Presents
1. How is Jack similar and different from other five year old boys?
2. Why does Jack personify everything inside the room?
3. Why does Jack compare certain things/people as real life or not real life?
4. How does Jack distinguish the real things from the not so real things in his
life?
5. By Ma telling Jack that the images on TV are not real, how does this affect
his view on the world?
6. Does Jack seem happy in the first chapter?
7. What does Jack fear? How and why can that fear traumatize him?
8. In what ways does the isolation of the room affect Jack’s development?
12. QHQs: Presents
1. Why did Ma put jack in the wardrobe?
2. Are Ma’s lies [to Jack] justified by the situation she is in?
3. Why is Jack still being breastfed at the age of 5? Who benefits
more from the breastfeeding Jack or his mom? In what ways is it
more beneficial to one or the other? Or is the breastfeeding just
used as a symbol in the text?
4. How can his mother, Ma, believe in God in her condition? Being
locked in a room??
5. If Old Nick has captured Ma as a sex slave, how does she escape
the reality of it with her son jack?
6. Why is Ma “gone” some days- what does it mean to be “gone”?
13. QHQs: Unlying
1. What is the significance of the chapter title “Unlying” and how
is this presented in the opening passage (pg. 58 -60)?
2. Why does the author wait until the end of the 2nd chapter to
tell us the back story behind why Jack and Ma are really
trapped in the Room.
3. Why does Ma make Jack mute the television during the
commercials?
4. Why does Jack count his teeth?
14. QHQs: Dying
Did Ma’ know she was going to have Jack perform
her great escape before Jack was born?
Which parts of the great escape are traumatizing?
15. QHQs: After
1. How does Ma and Jack’s relationship change after leaving
Room?
2. What are some of the tensions shared between Jack and
Ma?
3. In a psychoanalytical lens, is Jack traumatized after
escaping?
4. Does Ma’ feel guilty after the interview with the news lady?
5. Is it more traumatic in the room or the real world?
6. What kind of psychological trauma has Ma endured
throughout the story?
16. Questions
While they are in the room, we see little
evidence of the trauma they are suffering.
Why is that? What kind of trauma might we
expect to see? Is it possible that “Old Nick”
has not traumatized them?
Explain the dynamic between Old Nick and
Ma. Why does the author choose not to tell us
Old Nick’s story?
17. Essay #3: Response to the
Novel/Novella
The Writing Assignment
In a thesis driven essay of 4-7 pages, analyze one or more
aspects of Stephen King’s Rita Hayworth and the
Shawshank Redemption, Franz Kafka’s The
Metamorphosis, Elie Wiesel’s Night, or Emma Donoghue’s
Room. Consider using one extrinsic theoretical lens
(Feminist, Psychoanalytic, or Trauma theories), that we
have practiced this quarter to complicate your argument.
Aim to convince readers that your interpretation adds to the
conversation among those who read stories and write about
them. Back up your analysis with reasons and support from
the story. Use the critical strategies that we have practiced
this quarter.
See the complete assignment on our website
18. Homework
Finish Room: Read “Living”
Final Post #26: Choose One
QHQ Room Chapter 5, “Living”
Focus on a close reading of a passage (or
passages) that you could use to do a critical reading
through a theoretical lens. Consider New Critical,
Feminist, Psychoanalytic, or Trauma Theories. You
may use another theory with which you are familiar.
What role do you think the media play in the novel?
How does the media contribute to the trauma.
