History Literature / AChildCalledIt

* BlatantLies: It is scary the lies the police believed, one example being Catherine telling them that David's injuries are self-inflicted due to his jealousy over his infant brother. This is despite the fact that many of the injuries are in places a child cannot feasibly reach on their own, and the school had been documenting signs of abuse well before Richard was born.

* DeniedFoodAsPunishment: Starving David for weeks on end and then giving him food not even the ''dogs'' eat is one of Catherine's methods. One particular moment near the end also sees her taking the boys out to McDonalds while David is left in the parked car with the knowledge that they're all eating without him.

It was published in 1995, followed by ''The Lost Boy,'' which chronicled Dave's teen years, ending with ''A Man Named Dave,'' about his adulthood. It was later followed up by a biography his brother wrote about how ''he'' became the Scapegoat after David was taken away. Another brother has claimed that ''A Child Called "It"'' is a lie and that David was taken into care for starting a fire and shoplifting.

* BasedOnAGreatBigLie: Zigzagged. The rest of David's RealLife family (namely, his maternal grandmother and younger brother Stephen) have stated that the books are, at best, a major exaggeration, or, at worst, downright untrue. David's counterargument is claiming his brother's cerebral palsy discounts what he says because he's "semi-retarded" and is blindly devoted to their mother. His brother Richard has ''also'' written several books chronicling the abuse he suffered in earnest after David was removed by child protective services. That being said, there are several discrepancies between both books, such as when he recalls being stabbed in the stomach while Richard says that it was in the heart, plus the fact that several incidents could have been made up or exxagerated, as it's unlikely someone, especially not a little boy, would be able to survive them. That being said, it's nearly impossible to tell who is ''truly'' lying, as the parties refuting David's claims are unreliable for different reasons; [[UnreliableNarrator His maternal grandmother lived in a different state when the abuse was occurring and had no contact with David's immediate family, casting doubt to her claiming the abuse didn't happen.]] Stephen is also the only one of the siblings to publicly defend their mother, which would make his own claims one hell of a CassandraTruth if he was ever proven right, and, [[JerkassHasAPoint while what he said horrifically ableist and mean, David's statement does hint that Stephen has his own unresolved codependency issues]] towards their mother [[UnreliableNarrator that are clouding his judgement.]]
* BlatantLies: It is scary the lies the police believed.
* DeniedFoodAsPunishment: Starving David for weeks on end and then giving him food not even the ''dogs'' eat is one of Catherine's methods.

%%* ItIsDehumanizing

* ItIsDehumanizing

* ANounReferredToAsX: ''A Child Called It'' and ''A Man Named Dave''.

* BasedOnAGreatBigLie: Zigzagged. The rest of David's RealLife family (namely, his maternal grandmother and younger brother Stephen) have stated that the books are, at best, a major exaggeration, or, at worst, downright untrue. David's counterargument is claiming his brother's cerebral palsy discounts what he says because he's "semi-retarded" and is blindly devoted to their mother. His brother Richard has ''also'' written several books chronicling the abuse he suffered in earnest after David was removed by child protective services. That being said, there are several discrepancies between both books, such as when he recalls being stabbed in the stomach while Richard says that it was in the heart, plus the fact that several incidents could have been made up or exxagerated, as its unlikely someone, especially not a little boy, would be able to survive them. That being said, its nearly impossible to tell who is ''truly'' lying, as the parties refuting David's claims are unreliable for different reasons; [[UnreliableNarrator His maternal grandmother lived in a different state when the abuse was occurring and had no contact with David's immediate family, so she has no real leg to stand on when claiming the abuse didn't happen.]] Stephen is also the only one of the siblings to publicly defend their mother, which would make his own claims one hell of a CassandraTruth if he was ever proven right, and, [[JerkassHasAPoint while what he said horrifically ableist and mean, David's statement does hint that Stephen has his own codependency issues towards their mother that are unresolved and clouding his judgement.]]

* PoliceAreUseless: No matter how often Catherine is suspected of abuse by the school, the police always buy her lies. Also, in ''The Lost Boy,'' David runs away from home and is taken in by the police. He tries to tell them what's happening, and they call his father...who tells them that David is a liar and just ran away because he wasn't allowed to go bike-riding. ''And the police believe it.'' Justified, in that child protective laws were far less strict back in the 70s, [[AdultFear and even to this day claims of child abuse are often swept under the rug.]]

* BasedOnAGreatBigLie: Zigzagged. The rest of David's RealLife family (namely, his maternal grandmother and younger brother Stephen) have stated that the books are, at best, a major exaggeration, or, at worst, downright untrue. David's counterargument is claiming his brother's cerebral palsy discounts what he says because he's "semi-retarded" and is blindly devoted to their mother. His brother Richard has ''also'' written several books chronicling the abuse he suffered in earnest after David was removed by child protective services. That being said, there are several discrepancies between both books, such as when he recalls being stabbed in the stomach while Richard says that it was in the heart, plus the fact that several incidents could have been made up or exxagerated, as its unlikely someone, especially not a little boy, would be able to survive them. That being said, its nearly impossible to tell who is ''truly'' lying, as the parties refuting David's claims are unreliable for different reasons; [[UnreliableNarrator His maternal grandmother lived in a different state when the abuse was occurring and had no contact with David's immediate family, so she has no real leg to stand on when claiming the abuse didn't happen.]] Stephen is also the only one of the siblings to publicly defend their mother, which would make his own claims one hell of a CassandraTruth if he was ever proven right, and, [[JerkassHasAPoint while ''horrifically'' ableist and spiteful, David's statement does hint that Stephen has his own codependency issues towards their mother that are unresolved and clouding his judgement.]]

* BasedOnAGreatBigLie: Zigzagged. The rest of David's RealLife family (namely, his maternal grandmother and younger brother Stephen) have stated that the books are, at best, a major exaggeration, or, at worst, downright untrue. David's counterargument is claiming his brother's cerebral palsy discounts what he says because he's "semi-retarded" and is blindly devoted to their mother. His brother Richard has ''also'' written several books chronicling the abuse he suffered in earnest after David was removed by child protective services. That being said, there are several discrepancies between both books, such as when he recalls being stabbed in the stomach while Richard says that it was in the heart, plus the fact that several incidents could have been made up or exxagerated, as its unlikely someone, especially not a little boy, would be able to survive them. That being said, its nearly impossible to tell who is ''truly'' lying, as the parties refuting David's claims are unreliable for different reasons; [[UnreliableNarrator His maternal grandmother lived in a different state when the abuse was occurring and had no contact with David's immediate family, so she has no real leg to stand on when claiming the abuse didn't happen.]] Stephen is also the only one of the siblings to publicly defend their mother, which would make his own claims one hell of a CassandraTruth if he was ever proven right, and, while horrifically ableist and spite-fueled, David's statement does hint that Stephen has his own codependency issues towards their mother that are unresolved and clouding his judgement.

* KarmaHoudini: Despite her abusive nature, Catherine never gets any comeuppance for abusing poor David. [[Main/JustifiedTrope Justified]] since child abuse laws were nonexistent in the 70s. This is, however, assuming that David was telling the truth and wasn't lying.
* ANounReferredToAsX: ''A Child Called It'' and ''A Man Named Dave''

* ParentalNeglect: David's mother may be horrifyingly abusive, but David's father isn't totally innocent himself. He doesn't lift a finger to stop his wife abusing his son and finally runs off.
* PoliceAreUseless: No matter how often Catherine is suspected of abuse by the school, the police always buy her lies. Also, in ''The Lost Boy,'' David runs away from home and is taken in by the police. He tries to tell them what's happening, and they call his father...who tells them that David is a liar and just ran away because he wasn't allowed to go bike-riding. ''And the police believe it.'' Although, the police believing it becomes much easier to swallow if you believe that David was lying...

* BasedOnAGreatBigLie: Zigzagged. The rest of David's RealLife family (namely, his maternal grandmother and younger brother Stephen) have stated that the books are, at best, a major exaggeration, or, at worst, downright untrue. David's counterargument is claiming his brother's cerebral palsy discounts what he says because he's "semi-retarded" and is blindly devoted to their mother. His brother Richard has ''also'' written several books chronicling the abuse he suffered in earnest after David was removed by child protective services. That being said, there are several discrepancies between both books, such as when he recalls being stabbed in the stomach while Richard says that it was in the heart, plus the fact that several incidents could have been made up or exxagerated, as its unlikely someone, especially not a little boy, would be able to survive them. That being said, its nearly impossible to tell who is ''truly'' lying, as the parties refuting David's claims are unreliable for different reasons; [[UnreliableNarrator His maternal grandmother lived in a different state when the abuse was occurring and had no contact with David's immediate family, so she has no real leg to stand on when claiming the abuse didn't happen. Stephen is also the ''only'' sibling to publically defend their mother, and, while horrifically ableist and spite-fueled, David's statement does hint that Stephen has his own codependency issues towards their mother that are unresolved and clouding his judgement.]]

* BasedOnAGreatBigLie: Zigzagged, as the actual truth behind the stories are basically down to he-said-she-said between the author and his family. The rest of David's family have repeatedly stated that the books are, at best, a major exaggeration. David's only counterargument thus far has amounted to [[{{Hypocrite}} claiming his brother's cerebral palsy discounts what he says because he's "retarded"]]... Except that his brother Richard has ''also'' written several books chronicling the abuse he suffered in earnest after David was removed by child protective services. (An upbringing spent in the thrall of a vicious, cruel manipulator like Catherine wouldn't ever warp a young person's sense of loyalty or fealty to truth, would it?) However, there are several discrepancies between books, such as [[SarcasmMode minor things]] like where he was stabbed, plus the fact that several incidents were obviously made up as no one, especially not a little boy, would be able to survive them.

* BasedOnAGreatBigLie: The rest of David's family have repeatedly stated that the books are, at best, a major exaggeration. David's only counterargument thus far has amounted to [[{{Hypocrite}} claiming his brother's cerebral palsy discounts what he says because he's "retarded"]]... Except that his brother Richard has ''also'' written several books chronicling the abuse he suffered in earnest after David was removed by child protective services. (An upbringing spent in the thrall of a vicious, cruel manipulator like Catherine wouldn't ever warp a young person's sense of loyalty or fealty to truth, would it?) However, there are several discrepancies between books, such as [[SarcasmMode minor things]] like where he was stabbed, plus the fact that several incidents were obviously made up as no one, especially not a little boy, would be able to survive them...

* KarmaHoudini: Despite her abusive nature, Catherine never gets any comeuppance for abusing poor David. [[Main/Justified Trope Justified]] since child abuse laws were nonexistent in the 70s. This is, however, assuming that David was telling the truth and wasn't lying.

* AbusiveParents: ''Catherine, Catherine,'' '''Catherine!''' She's incredibly emotionally and physically abusive as well as neglectful.

* AxCrazy: Oh my good lord, Catherine!

** Catherine of course!
** Also possibly Dave himself, if his book really is a lie, as this would mean he lied about his mother stabbing and starving him just for attention and money. However, even if the book is true, one cannot deny that his response to his brother calling him out was absolutely disgusting.
* KarmaHoudini: Catherine, BIG TIME. She ''never'' gets any comeuppance for abusing poor David since child abuse laws were nonexistent in the 70s. This is assuming that David is telling the truth.

* ParentalNeglect: David's mother may be horrifyingly abusive, but David's father isn't totally innocent. He doesn't lift a finger to stop his wife abusing his son and finally runs off.

* AbusiveParents:
** ''Catherine, Catherine,'' '''Catherine!''' She's incredibly emotionally and physically abusive as well as neglectful.
** David's father isn't totally innocent either, as he neglects his son and finally runs off, claiming he can't handle watching his wife abuse David.

* PoliceAreUseless: No matter how often Catherine is suspected of abuse by the school, the police always buy her lies. Also, in ''The Lost Boy,'' David runs away from home and is taken in by the police. He tries to tell them what's happening, and they call his father...who tells them that David is a liar and just ran away because he wasn't allowed to go bike-riding. ''And the police believe it.'' Although, the police believing it becomes much easier to swallow after all of Pelzer's family came out and said he was lying...