Although there are many differences between the movie "The Truman Show," and Emma Donoghue's novel "Room," there are some common elements as well; the protagonists are faced with a similar battle. .
On first inspection, Truman Burbank ("The Truman Show") and Jack ("Room"), couldn't me more different. Truman is a grown man who earnestly desires to escape the confines of the well-staged and scripted town of Seahaven. The young boy, Jack, however, has become reliant on the one room he has live in for five years. Nevertheless, these two central characters both find a way out of their "prisons" by women motivated by love. .
Once outside their restricted boundaries, Jack and Truman are given the opportunity to begin exploring the world. Truman, who was the unknowing star of world-wide television reality program. For nearly thirty years, he believes that his life is just like everybody else's. But when he realizes that everyone and everything in his life is scripted and part of an intricate illusion, he plots to escape the fictional town of Seahaven to discover what lies beyond it's borders.
In Donoghue's story, Jack has no desire to leave the solitude of his room. He had lived within it's four walls from the day he was born, and it's literally the only place he knows. His Ma spend time with him everyday and Old Nick came by every Sunday, sometimes bringing a surprise for Jack; a lollipop or a toy. Jack relied on his room because he had never seen the outside world, and because he is still a five-year-old boy. He's curious about the world beyond his door, but he is not compelled to see it.
After a police officer saved Ma from the room, Jack begged to go back to the room and sleep, saying, "Yeah. I've seen the world and I'm tired now." (174) However, Truman's behavior is totally different from Jack's. When he is standing in front of the exit of the film studio, Christof asks him whether he wants to stay in the paradise that he created for Truman or go to the real world.