Ma Quotes

Ma

Quote 4

"It would have been a sacrifice, of course—the ultimate sacrifice—but if Jack could have had a normal, happy childhood with a loving family?" "He had me." Ma says it one word at a time. (4.1345-4.1346)

Ma is insulted by the talk show host, who implies that Jack would have been better off with a "loving family." Ma is his mother. Shouldn't she be family enough? And doesn't she love Jack enough?

Ma > Jack

Quote 5

"Why am I hided away like the chocolates?" I think [Ma is] sitting on Bed. She talks quiet so I can hardly hear. "I just don't want him looking at you. Even when you were a baby, I always wrapped you up in Blanket before he came in." (1.289-1.290)

Jack isn't just confined in Room, he's sometimes confined in a Wardrobe within Room. That's double confinement. Just as parents want to protect their kids from things in the outside world, Ma has to find a way to protect Jack even though their "world" is only 121 square feet.

Ma

Quote 6

Ma stops, she puffs out a long breath. "I need to hit something," she says, "but I don't want to break anything." "Why not?" "Actually, I'd love to break something. I'd love to break everything." (2.605-2.607)

With the power out in Room, Ma feels increasingly trapped and she wants to break out even more. But she can't. So the urge to break out becomes the urge to simply break something in order to vent all that pent-up rage at being pent up.