Can Jack Survive in Air and Water?

First some thoughts about Room so far:

            Room has been very captivating, to say the least. I enjoyed (in a scary kind of way) discovering the situation of Jack and Ma throughout these past few readings. At the beginning, the book seemed very happy, as we see everything through Jack’s eyes. However, as Jack mentions things here and there, things start to click and we slowly understand things for what they really are. There were several instances where Jack’s description made something seem completely innocent and even fun at first, but when I caught on to what was really going on, the situation went from fun to frightening. One example of this is when Jack describes the game Scream that he plays with Ma. Jack thinks that they are simply screaming for fun, and as a five year old Jack understandably thinks nothing more of the game. But we as readers realize that Ma is actually screaming for help, and has been doing so every day for at least five years, hoping that someone will hear her cry. Another example is the way Ma flicks the lights on and off, which Jack understands as something that she just does, but is in fact another way Ma is signaling for someone to rescue her and her son. Even finding out about a simple fact like Room being 11x11 was an unnerving experience for me, as I had first assumed Jack and Ma were living in a house or an apartment. As I learned more, the setting became eerie as the scenery slowly changed within my mind. The way that Donoghue reveals the frightening circumstances of this story has a much more powerful impact because nothing is stated directly, and the reader figures things out from the things we perceive through the eyes of an innocent five-year old who doesn’t understand the situation.

Now a question: Can Jack survive in Air and Water?

            The mermaid story that Ma told Jack in the first section of Unlying brought an intriguing question to mind: how would Jack adjust to the real world if he ever manages to escape? Jack asks whether JackerJack (the character in the mermaid story that represents Jack) will drown when he goes underwater into the sea with his mother the mermaid. Ma replies by saying that JackerJack is half merman, and that he is able to survive in both air and water. Ma clearly implies that she believes that Jack can survive both in the Room (although probably not for much longer) and in the outside world. We see that Jack is pretty content with his life in the Room, even though he has several traumatizing experiences with Nick. Room is literally his entire world, and he is able to enjoy his time there despite the horrifying situation that is his reality because of the way Ma raised him and shielded him from the truth as he grew up.

So we know that Jack can survive in the “air”, as he has spent his entire life in the Room. But can Jack survive in the outside world, when he lived the first five years of his life in a totally different universe? The difference between living in the Room and the real world is far larger than between air and water. One can only imagine how bewildering and huge and foreign the real world will be to Jack. Going from an 11x11 room where he, Ma, and Nick are the only living humans to a world with 7 billion other people would be overwhelming. As we discussed in class on Thursday, the psychological impact on Jack would be incalculable, which makes the question of whether he can survive if he escapes an even harder one. Also, I found myself assuming that Jack would definitely be happier living in the outside world, but is this really true? The Room is Jack’s home, and was his world the moment he was born. Although the Room is a horrifying situation for us as readers who actually understand the circumstances, Jack is a little kid and he doesn't understand what the real situation. On top of that, the outside world isn’t exactly a perfect place either. Although I, just as everyone else, am rooting for Ma and Jack to make and escape, the truth is that the outside world is a very dark and scary place as well. What do you guys think? Would Jack be able to adjust to a totally different universe, and would he be able to be happy in this new world if he ever escapes the Room?