He contemplates the TV, what is real, and what is not. He examines the marks on Ma’s neck and wants to hurt Old Nick. Jack watches TV all day, finding raw food when he is hungry. Jack can’t stop thinking about the things 'Outside.' The next day, Ma is 'gone,' in a comatose state this happens occasionally and Jack is used to it, though it profoundly discomfits him. Ma tries to explain to Jack how the TV shows images of real things. Jack sees an advertisement for Ma’s painkillers on TV and thinks that those images are the same thing as her real painkillers. They begin to play their usual games Scream goes on for longer than usual. The next morning, Jack sees dirty marks around Ma’s neck from where Old Nick forcibly grabbed her. Jack still has the remote in the cupboard he makes the Jeep fall off the shelf, and it hits Old Nick.

When Old Nick visits, Jack can hear him talking about how the groceries were a ridiculous price. Ma cleans Room, and Jack plays with the Jeep all day.

When Jack wakes up the next day, Old Nick has bought him a remote-controlled Jeep. After lunch and a nap, they do their routine of screaming at the skylight, in hopes that someone will hear them. Jack cries the next day, as he hopes Old Nick will bring him a dog. Jack counts the creaks of the bed-what the reader understands to be the sound of Old Nick raping Ma-until they stop. Old Nick visits and has some birthday cake, telling Ma he would have bought Jack a present if he had known. After dinner, they watch TV and try to imitate the presenters to increase their vocabulary. Ma tries to kill it, and Jack is distressed. While Ma naps, Jack finds a mouse and lures it out with crumbs. They make a ball out of scrunched-up paper and play with it. Jack describes how he ‘has some’, referring to breast milk from Ma. Jack goes into the cupboard to sleep while Old Nick, the man whom the reader learns captured Ma and imprisoned her in Room, visits Ma in the night. He shouts that she should have asked for candles as a Sunday treat. Ma and Jack make a birthday cake, but Jack throws a tantrum because there aren’t five candles.

They have a nap, and then they have dinner. They complete more of their daily routine, such as reading more books and doing exercises. Ma measures Jack’s height on the door frame. Jack watches TV and interacts with Dora the Explorer as if she were real. Ma takes two painkillers for her bad tooth. He describes his interactions and daily routines with inanimate objects, such as the table and the spoon. The narrative perspective is Jack's therefore, the dialogue is extremely matter-of-fact and juvenile. The novel opens with Jack turning five and Ma giving him a drawing she did of him as a gift.

Emma donoghue books in order