The autobiographical story A Child Called It by Dave Pelzer recounts the heartbreaking abuse he suffered at the hands of a figure who is supposed to represent security and comfort: his mother. Between the ages of 4 and 12, Pelzer suffered mental, physical and emotional torment at the hands of his alcoholic mother, who ostracized him from his family. A home that was supposed to symbolize a refuge for an innocent child instead became an abusive containment facility. In documenting the stark images of his scarred past, Pelzer managed to create a face for an otherwise silent evil. He also represented those who experienced similar situations of anguish and desperation. His ordeal embodied the ability of the human spirit to endure to the breaking point, but still emerge intact. This anecdotal account supports the idea that even those who have endured the most harmful treatment can rise from the ashes, not only unscathed, but with an expression of confidence. She argues that those who have experienced situations of brutal child abuse can show resilience and illustrate their new life not in a way of violence or failure, which usually characterizes the outcome of child abuse cases, but instead grow from the experience and blossom into an adulthood of success and clarity. Throughout Pelzer's explicit account of tribulations, he implies the need for the public to take aggressive action against this immorality instead of remaining passive spectators. To support his thesis Pelzer uses numerous rhetorical strategies such as metaphor, juxtaposition, and pathos to emphasize the gravity of his struggle. Pelzer also uses these literary devices to represent the hope and freedom he felt after his escape from the cruel bond...... middle of paper ...... happiness but it implied Pelzer's future liberation and the contentment of his life after his arrival come to terms with his past. He personified the transition from an abused childhood to an adulthood of clarity and acceptance, a transition that supports Pelzer's argument of releasing the past. One of the main metaphorical devices used in the story was a piece of wood washed away by the ocean. It has a “strange, twisted shape. The wood is pitted, but smoothed and whitened by time spent in the sun” (p. 156). This driftwood symbolized Pelzer's childhood as he was controlled by larger external forces, but unlike the driftwood, he was able to escape these forces and show the possibility of gaining control over a situation that appears to be a whirlwind of pain, confusion and despair. . “It was as if an immense power was sucking me into a gigantic undertow.”