Child Abuse and the Importance of Belonging Discussed in David Pelzers

A Child Called It explores the traumatic story of child abuse and how the choices made by one person affects anothers sense of belong. The story is only from one point of view as its 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 finally his biggest enemy, himself.A Child Called It, as the title denotes depreciation and an im person-to-person 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 doesnt exist, or as it tells come along in the story, a child who is treated like he doesnt exist. The author contrasts his mother in different contexts from when his mom was a good, care mute to when his mother changed into the abusive stage. Mom and Mother are used through tabu the text t o show the audience the different emotions he had carried for her. Mom is more personal and informal but suggests a close relationship between the two as it is used in the chapters that he is reminiscing about when his mom was a normal, caring mom. Mother is used in the chapters he was abused in and suggests a more distant relationship due to the formal language structure. When Mom was used, the emotions carried out towards her by David Pelzer were none other than belonging to her. When a child is told something so often they start to believe it. In this case, David Pelzer was ordered to say oer and over again Im a bad boy, Im a bad boy... which psychologically brainwashed him to believe that he was. That every time he was physicall... ...ejected, surrounding him as he says I had readymade excuses mother made for me. The ending doesnt end on a happily ever afterward note but rather a dull and gloomy tone as it is set throughout the text. Sarcasm, contrast and similes are the main language features presented in the book to evoke disgust, torment and shock throughout the audience showing them either how she saw the abusive behaviours inflicted upon him or the brainwashed excuses he learnt from his mother. Not belonging is the struggle in this text that didnt get resolved by the ending making it a dark, gloomy tone and the language features used in addition evokes a dark feeling within the reader. A Child Called It truly explores the meaning of struggling with belonging due to other peoples actions rather than their own and provides allot use of imagery to emphasise the meaning of the biography.