Case Study: The Book Room By Emma Donoghue

Research Paper All over the world we cope with the tragic occurrence of the act of kidnapping. We can’t pinpoint the exact reason for why people conduct the act, but only have assumptions on why. Psychological issues and flaws in nurturing, are main factors on reasons for why people hold others captive. The book “Room” by Emma Donoghue is a true story by the perspective of a five-year-old boy, who goes by the name, ‘Jack’. Jack and his kidnapped mother, who goes by “Ma”, live in a sound-proof shack in the backyard of the kidnappers’ house. ‘Old Nick’ took “Ma” when she was nineteen. He raped her constantly, until one day when she became pregnant with Jack. Jack was born inside the room and has never been outside, or even knows what the

You may see them as a loving figure, instead of a kidnapper. The term “Stockholm Syndrome” comes from the bank robbery in Stockholm Sweden on August 23rd, 1973. The two robbers held four people captive for more than five days. When the four were rescued, it was obvious that they gained some sort of empathy, or caring feelings towards the robbers, besides the fact that they had dynamite strapped to their chests. Having “Stockholm Syndrome” is no longer seen as unusual to the police when rescuing people from their captors, because they are blurred with the fact of how terrible the situation truly is. They have gotten used to being treated one way for a long period of time, therefore not seeing the true effects conducted upon them. Having this disorder makes you feel content with the situation you are in, and makes you not want to leave your captor. The captor makes you think everything is ok, that he is there for you, and won’t harm you, but by just holding them captive is harming them

They kept her restrained using zip-ties, and put her in a closet. She was repeatedly raped everyday, and threatened. The day she escaped, was the one day when the men left her alone for the first time. She sprinted to the lake and swam 150 acres to the nearest residential area. There, she found a farmer who helped her, and called the cops. All three men were caught, and charged. The incident started on August 8, around 10 p.m; when the girl was lured away from home by Thomas Baker, her friend’s father. Baker told the girl he needed help with his son, and being an innocent 15-year-old girl, fell into the trap. The men tortured the girl not only with rape, but attempting to drown, hang, and drug her. Barker has cerebral palsy, and is physically impaired. It is a very unfortunate event in which this young girl was in the midst of. She told Fox News, “I close my eyes and I see their faces.” She will never forget what happened to her, and the feeling of being taken advantage of, and harmed. The girl was about to start her first day of freshman year of highschool, when her life changed in the blink of an eye. She was taken advantage of by a person she trusted, and now, has to live everyday of her life remembering