The stagnant air creeps down the hallway, maneuvers its way through each bedroom, bathroom and living room and makes a permanent residence in the walls that surround each room. The energy that the house is swallowed in is dreadful -- something inside of it needs to be hidden from the outside world, like a secret. From the exterior, the house is a normal, regular looking house among the others around it. On the inside, however, a small child is hidden in the basement of the house, for no one's eyes to see unless to glare. No one's hands to touch unless to beat or slapped. No one's ears to listen to unless to make sure that they are unheard from the outside world.
Abuse has been going on for as long as anyone can remember -- whether it be emotional, verbal, or physical abuse, it unfortunately happens a lot in today's society. It is talked about in books, the media, movies and in real world situations as well. In books, for instance, abuse can be talked about in fictitious stories, for people who haven't been abused to see what a situation would be like. It would be a story about someone who wants the reader to realize what would possibly happen from a person getting abused. Stories of nonfiction abuse, on the other hand, explain more about a realistic situation that happened to them or someone that they knew. It's a plea; a way to cry out to others and share their story. Both readings are very different, but at the same time, share many similarities.
An example of a fictional story that contains abuse is Flowers In the Attic by V. C. Andrews. Throughout the book, all four of the main characters are locked in an attic for 3 years, 4 months and 16 days. The long while that they are forced to live in the attic, they undergo a series of abuses, from verbal attacks given by their grandmother, to physical whip lashings, beatings and labor. The abuse that the four characters undergo is visible later on when two of the four characters die from neglect and trauma, and the other two both have obvious relationship and trust issues with everyone around them, which makes it hard for them to move on from their past. The abuse that is given throughout the book is portrayed as scenes that haven't actually happened, but could possibly be seen as a real world situation.
Fictional stories can be portrayed in several different ways, and are usually written to portray a specific mood about the abuse that is given. But in a nonfictional story, like A Child Called It, the abuse that is told through the text actually happened, and is being told first hand by Dave Pelzer. Like Flowers In the Attic, Dave suffers tremendous amounts of physical abuse -- being beaten senseless, kicked, punched, and slapped. Unlike a nonfiction story, the emotional abuse that Dave suffers comes from real emotions that he felt as a kid, and as he feels now, reflecting on the abuse from the past. The images that haunts him are graphic, and very very real, which differ from the pictures that are painted for readers on fictional stories.
No matter what genre of book that is being read, the theme of abuse shows emotions of bitter hurt, pain, and lack of a normal lifestyle. They can hit a reader hard at home, or they can show a reader what abuse is actually like: small hands shaking and trembling in fear, waiting for the next verbal, physical, or mental lash.
