After seeing a couple of blogs on this, as well as different views on this topic, I decided to address it, even though, I know I know, this is pretty old. So, when Jack comes out of the house and escapes, is he a hero, or not? To answer this question, I will list out all of the possible reasons from both sides and then provide my own reasoning.
First, the positives. What does Jack do that could make him conceivable as a hero? First and foremost, Jack acts sick and then dead. For someone who hasn’t ever “acted” before, and doing it on such short notice, he does a pretty believable job. If he would’ve messed this up at the beginning, then all would have been finished. Jack leaves Room and has the courage to go Outside. He really doesn’t have any idea of what he’s getting himself into, but he’s willing to take up the challenge. Although it hurts him (and as we learn later, it isn’t just a small injury) when Old Nick drops him in the back of the pickup truck, he remains quiet for the sake of the mission. He makes the right decisions without Ma being around when he runs away from Old Nick. He eventually gets his Mom freed and Old Nick captured.
Now for the not exactly heroish thingys. He’s just following orders. Ma tells him what to do and he does it. Sure he makes a couple of decisions on his own, but they were kind of the only options he had, and he acknowledged that. In this notion, Jack is but a “pawn” in Ma’s crafty maneuver of intelligence (Quintin). Also, Jack doesn’t really help the Police While they do figure it out in the end, Jack could have very easily told them.
While it is true that Jack could have told the police, we have to understand that he hasn’t met any other human being apart from Ma and Old Nick, He is unaware of their existence and it creeps him out. We can cut him some slack on that one. On the topic of Jack being a pawn, I agree, Jack is a pawn in the whole scheme of things. But the heroic part in that is that he’s doing everything that he should do, as well as making the right decisions when needed. He remains silent even when he is hurt. He talks when he feels safe and does get Ma out and Old Nick captured. Sure there was luck involved in that, and it is true that Jack isn’t a marvelous hero in this. But there are many heroic aspects seen in this whole escape. And don’t forget, he’s only five.
Wednesday, December 3
I think Jack is definitely a hero -- for all of his extraordinary accomplishments in the escape that you list here, plus simply because other people consider him to be one. If Ma feels grateful to Jack for his part of the escape, or if other people learning about the story think Jack did something remarkable, then why shouldn't they consider him a hero?
ReplyDeleteAlso, after reading your blog and noticing the last paragraph of the previous post, I'm disappointed to find that there isn't a sneak peak of your creative project here! I guess we'll have to wait until the final.
I think you summed up the heroic things and the non-heroic things pretty well. I would have to say I was leaning a bit toward the non-heroic side during the actual escape. I just cant get over the fact that he was simply following orders the whole time, and din't even do that great of a job at following them. Later in the book, however, I certainly think he earns his heroic status.
ReplyDeleteI agree, he certainly earns his heroic status back. Jack starts to amuse us towards the end a lot more, and he also displays an adaptive side of him. What makes him a really powerful hero, in my view, is the last few lines of the book when he says we went out of "the door". The realization that this is no longer Door but the door is very powerful and signifies that Jack has moved on in his life.
DeleteA firefighter who rushes into a burning building and saves a life would be considered heroic by most of us (myself included), even if he or she is simply following "orders" or standard protocol. There are *jobs* that require heroism quite regularly, and these don't necessarily depend on wit or creativity but simple courage and strength and endurance and a willingness to risk one's life and safety for others.
ReplyDeleteBut beyond that, Jack's "orders" are hardly simple to carry out--they sound so crazy, they can't possibly work, and the *acting* they call for requires an incredible degree of fortitude and self-control.