Analyzing Jack's Theory Of Mind And The Novel

In Room by Emma Donoghue, the main character, a five-year-old boy named Jack, emulates many behaviors that may be explained by an Autism Spectrum Disorder, but with equal validity could be the due to the of absence of the social construction we know as Theory of Mind. Lisa Zunshine’s book, Why We Read Fiction: Theory of Mind and the Novel, defines Theory of Mind as “our ability to explain people’s behavior in terms of their thoughts, feelings, beliefs, and desires” (6). Analyzing Jack’s Theory of Mind is different from the average person’s because for the first five years of his life he lived in solitude with his mother in a soundproof, 11ft by 11ft square room constructed by the man who kidnapped Jack’s mother seven years ago. A person’s
Emily Donoghue doesn’t use this as a way to catch the reader, she is describing true events and taking on the challenge of creating Jack’s world so that the reader has a better understanding of the tragedy in the story. She also, whether she knows it or not, questions the idea of ToM in some ways: Zunshine argues that ToM is contextualized, not inherent. Similar to a social construction, the contextualization of this ability to read minds could mean that Jack is totally normal in most ways. Like being raised to speak Taiwanese rather than English, mind-reading is a learned ability that, once acquired, feels completely natural. Jack simply does not have the opportunity to learn this ability. Within Roth’s article on the neuronovel, he argues that the reader will place their own thought patterns on the character displaying a cognitive disability, in attempts to identify with them and better understand their situation. This arbitrary process takes away from the integrity of the person/character and disability itself. It is impossible for one person to fully understand the experience of a disabled person. Likewise, it is impossible for the reader to fully understand or take on the identity of Jack. In this respect, Jack may have an
Because we know that autism can range widely, this is not necessarily proof that Jack does not have an ASD although it does stray from severe cases of autism. Jack continues to display characteristics of a lacking ToM as he cannot discern whether or not some people are real, “Women aren’t real like Ma is, and girls and boys not either. Men aren’t real except Old Nick, and I’m not actually sure if he’s real for real. Maybe half? He brings groceries and Sundaytreat and disappears the trash, but he’s not human like us. He only happens in the night, like bats. Maybe Door makes him up with a beep beep and the air changes. I think Ma doesn’t like to talk about him in case he gets realer.” The in between space where reality meets TV world is Old Nick who is their only lifeline outside of Room. Both Ma and Jack, being solely dependent on him, have to cope with whatever Nick feels like giving them. Jack knows that Ma is real, but girls and boys are not because he does not see them in person. But Nick is a man and he’s real to Jack sometimes. Even when he’s not in Room, he exists Outside when he gets the things they need from the stores. Because Jack knows not to talk about Old Nick (it makes Ma upset), he doesn’t have the opportunity to openly question Nick’s realness. This difficulty that Jack faces confuses his perception of what is real and what is made-up, Ma