Madeleine proposed some questions about Old Nick and his motives. Although he is certainly a difficult character to comprehend, here Is what I would guess goes on in his head. Nick clearly still enjoys having sex with ma, otherwise he would have stopped. Presumably, he would find it less enjoyable if he allowed Ma's mental state to deteriorate. I know it sounds very despicable and its possible that old Nick actually cares, but I personally feel that Nick operates under strictly selfish motives.
It does seem to me that he feels some guilt at Jack's perceived death, but I don't think that he is feeling sympathy for Jack or for Ma. I think that Nick has been trying to tell himself that he is not as evil as he could be. He has clearly argued this over and over to Ma, telling her to appreciate how good she has it, and lthough he is not convincing her, I think he convinced himself. but now he thinks he is a murderer in addition to a kidnapper and rapist. Murder, I would argue, is a whole other level. In stead of sympathy, I would hypothesize that Nick recognizes a distinction between and rape and kidnapping on the one hand, and murder on the other, and that he feels some moral qualms at having taken this extra step. This would also explain why he was so angry at having been deceived, instead of simply being scared. Although the fear prevailed in the end, Jack said that Nick had "the angriest face I ever saw." If someone tricked you into thinking you were a murderer, thereby outting you into danger, you would be pretty upset at them, more so than if you had simply been tricked and put into danger.
Anyway all of this is hypothesis. there is no way we can actually comprehend how Old Nick's mind functions, especially because none of us share his motives (I hope).
I think the guilt Old Nick feels at Jack's death is because he thinks that he's lost his ability to control Ma. She asks him for things that would help Jack, like books and clothes. Without Jack, there's nothing to stop Ma from killing herself. If she kills herself, then Nick has nobody that he can show his "power" to. I think that's also why he kidnapped Ma in the first place. He needed someone to show that he could be superior and powerful. That's just my thoughts though, so maybe I'm completely wrong.
ReplyDeleteI think it is more the fact that Old Nick thinks that what he and Ma has is "real". I think he believes that Ma believes that they are a couple of sorts. He knows that what he is doing is wrong but I think he does care for Ma. Like Mr. Mitchell said in class, they almost seem like a twisted version of a 50's family life. The father comes home, barks orders, and rarely talks to his kid.
ReplyDeleteI read your post and was like 'I definitely agree' then I read Eric's and Jackson's comments and was like 'I agree with those too.' Basically, Old Nick is clearly a very twisted individual, and beyond that he's a psychopath so I don't know to interpret his actions or guess his motives. I do like the part you wrote about Old Nick seeing a line between murder and kidnapping/rape. That's a very plausible idea.
ReplyDeleteI think its really hard to even try and put ourselves in Nick's mind set and I will never understand how he or anyone could live with doing something so terrible. I see what you are saying that being a murderer is on a whole bother level, but before Ma had Jack, she was so miserable she was practically dead on the inside. Though he didn't physically killed her, he might as well have emotionally killed her.
ReplyDeleteGoing off of what you're saying about Nick registering a difference between abduction and murder, he also was responsible, from Ma's point of view, for the death of her first baby so maybe he feels especially bad that Jack "died" because it's Ma's second child to die in Room, and Old Nick had something to do with both of their deaths.
ReplyDeleteIt is surprising to me how genuinely Nick seems to respect Ma's feelings once he believes Jack has died, and he's responsible. Like, he takes seriously her request that he not bury him in the yard but take him "somewhere nice" (which is, of course, key to the whole plan). Ma does seem aware that, like the abused "wife" in this twisted scenario she's forced to live out with him, she does have a little bit of emotional leverage--in so far as he believes himself to be doing her all these "favors" (like "Sundaytreat"), she's able to play on this sense of "responsibility." (Pretty much everything about their relationship needs to be put in "scare quotes"--an approximate distortion of typical domestic relations.)
ReplyDeleteBut as I wrote in response to Madeleine's post about Nick, I doubt that we can ever really grasp what makes a person like Nick do what he does. And this novel is not especially interested in trying to open up his head and understand him.