She has to let him do it in order to survive. She stands up to Old Nick, which is no small feat, given that this is a man who rapes her repeatedly. Whether she means it as a guilt trip or not, it makes Jack fear letting her down, and it makes him work harder at being brave. "You said you were going to be my superhero" (3.241) she tells Jack at one point. Old Nick has lost his job, and if he abandons his house, he will leave them there to starve. She puts a lot of pressure on Jack, using him to escape, because she's afraid they will die if they don't get out. Ma really wants to return to the outside world, unlike Jack, who doesn't know what he's missing. She still breastfeeds him too, which isn't unusual within the context of Room but does earn her some strange stares from others when they return to the outside world. She spends every waking moment with him, educating him, feeding him, playing with him. After a failed suicide attempt, Ma recuperates, and she eventually moves into an apartment of her own with Jack. With Jack's help, they get away from Old Nick and back into the real world. She has two children while in Room: the first, a daughter, who is stillborn, and then Jack, who is five when Ma formulates a plan for them to escape. Kidnapped by Old Nick when she was nineteen, Ma spends eight years inside Room. We never learn her real name, and Jack only calls her Ma.
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