A Child Called It Themes

Dave Pelzer’s memoir A Child Called “It” is a harrowing meditation on child abuse, embodied in Dave’s mother, Catherine Roerva (usually referred to either as Mother or “the bitch”). For many years, Mother abuses Dave verbally, physically, and psychologically, until, thanks to the intervention of Dave’s teachers, the police finally free him from Mother’s home. Child abuse is by far the most important theme in the memoir—indeed, the other themes we’ll discuss are particularly…

In addition to depicting an incredibly abusive parent, A Child Called “It” studies the effects of child abuse on the abused children themselves. For years, Mother beats Dave Pelzer, the author and narrator of the book, leaving him with scars and bruises, but also a longer-lasting sense of shame, guilt, resentment, fear, and self-hatred—in a word, trauma. Through Dave’s eyes, readers come to understand the traumatizing psychological effects of abuse on young children and—more…

One of the most startling things about A Child Called “It” is that for many years, and in spite of the obvious signs that Dave’s parents are abusing him, nobody alerts the authorities. Although Dave’s teachers, along with the principal and the school nurse, make the decision to call Child Protective Services when Dave is in fifth grade, Pelzer makes it clear that there had been signs of abuse years before: Dave regularly…