Room

Content Warning: This section mentions depictions of child endangerment, abuse through neglect, and imprisonment.

When Ma’s bad tooth falls out in Chapter 2, Jack quickly adds it to his collection of personified items in Room that he plays with like toys. At first Jack calls it Bad Tooth, saying, “I play with Bad Tooth, I hide him in different places […] I try and forget where he is, then I’m all surprised” (76). But over time, Jack simply refers to it as Tooth. Once Ma and Jack develop their plan for escape, Jack decides he is “going to tuck [Tooth] down [his] sock” while he is away from Ma (132). Jack has never been away from Ma in his life, and he cannot bring anything with him as he plays dead. Still, Jack finds a way to take a piece of Ma with him in his sock, showing how attached he is to Ma.

Jack maintains track of Ma’s tooth throughout the novel, and it becomes a significant item for him when he and Ma are separated again after Ma’s suicide attempt. Jack describes, “I suck to feel Tooth, he’s right in the middle of my tongue” (253) immediately after being separated from Ma.