Child Abuse and the Importance of Belonging Discussed in...

A Child Called It explores the traumatic story of child abuse and how the choices made by one person affects another’s sense of belonging. The story is only from one point of view as it’s a biography, written by the man who experienced trauma at such a tender age. David Pelzer, as a child, dealt with rejection daily and not only from his mother but classmates, teachers and ultimately his biggest enemy, himself. A Child Called It, as the title denotes depreciation and an impersonal relationship between the audience and the text, begins the biography with a dark and solemn theme as there is no definition for ‘it’ therefore titling a book ‘a child called it’ gives the audience the idea that the child doesn’t exist, or as it tells†¦show more content†¦David never belonged in the later stages of his life when his mother turned abusive as he was always the odd one out at school and home, even writing â€Å"the reject of fifth grade†. When David talks about his abuse he uses irony such as â€Å"mothers game she played against me† to evoke emotional disgust in the audience as if to say that’s how she considers abusing a child, a game! â€Å"I want so much to be liked, to be loved† evokes a sudden sadness in the audience as they realise how much he doesn’t belong with his mother. Socially he is ‘rejected’ from his classmates and his siblings and mentally and physically abused by his mother. This quotation represents in the text how much he is trying to fit into his family and classmates trying to be what everyone wants, trying to belong like he used to before his mother got ‘sick’. Before David’s mother became an abusive mother she was a normal, caring parent who would have never been thought of to hurt her children even said by David himself he considered them similar to the â€Å"Brady Bunch† family. â€Å"Mom† as the text suggests had depression as â€Å"fathers job often required him to work twenty four hour shifts† and she was often home alone with the children as David said â€Å"I remember seeing mom cry† which shows she was lonely. She had also said to David she was ‘sick’ and from then on she wasn’t herself. Because the