Hello hello hello! During these glorious weeks of the first half of english, I have surprised myself with the amount of time I have spent reading. Rather than reading the two books I anticipated, I have completed three and now about to begin my fourth novel. Recently, I have found that during my spare time, I am reading, rather than scrolling through my endless social media accounts. Also, something that has sparked my interest has been non-fiction novels. I am slowly gravitating to them rather than the mainstream fiction books. My third book in which I am writing about today is a very intense non-fiction novel. A Child Called ‘It’ shares the story of a boy who goes through childhood dealing with severe child abuse. Through the many graphic scenes, a silver lining appears.
*BEWARE: POSSIBLE SPOILERS UP AHEAD*
Despite the horrendous torture the main character faces, he manages to turn his life around. It wasn’t very easy to get to that point though. He dealt with starvation, beatings, and isolation. During one point in the story, a quote that really stuck to me was when his mother said, “You are a nobody! An It! You are nonexistent! You are a bas**d child! I hate you and I wish you were dead” (140). To have a mother that cares nothing of you hurt me more than anything. I don’t know how that feels because when I am home I am fed with unconditional love. While reading this quote I could not comprehend why a mother would have such hatred towards her own child.
While reading this horrific autobiography, I came across the common theme of depersonalization. Throughout many occurrences, the main character, David, was demeanored into believing that he was to be treated as less than a human. At points he felt like he did not belong in the world anymore, that he had no purpose to live. Suicide is a very large issue in our world, even in our school. People don’t realize the impact of “jokes” about death on others. In my lifetime, I have helped a very good friend of mine through suicidal thoughts. She didn’t feel like she had a purpose. With hope in mind, everyone has a purpose, regardless of your situation. For anyone who comes across my blog who reached a point in your life where you feel like you are alone and useless, there is always a way out. Search for that silver lining ahead of you and you will reach a point of true happiness. Every single person on this earth was born to help someone or something in a positive way. It’s your job to come to the realization that you are meaningful.
Reading through David’s situation, he went through an extremely hard time in his life where he was told daily that his purpose was nonexistent, that he should be punished for his wrongdoings. The only thing that gave him hope was the thought of getting out. Of being free. We all need to learn that regardless of the seriousness of our situation, there’s a reason why we’re here. We just have to remain hopeful that there is good things coming our way.
