Pedophilia and Child Abuse

The abuse of children by their caretakers is one of the central forces at play in the novel. For Chappie, life with his sexual abusive stepfather Ken has driven him to engage in all manner of self-destructive behavior, including drugs and petty crime. His inability to tell the other adults in his life about Ken's transgressions locks him in a cycle of guilt and shame, and at the same time colors his view of the world, which, because of the abuse, seems at all times unjust to him. In his final confrontation with his mother, Chappie is unable to tell her what Ken has done, yet he gained enough independence and strength that he will not submit again to the abuser's authority. He demands that his mother choose, trying to eliminate Ken from his life without telling the shaming secret, and when she refuses, he...