Trauma and Addiction
The narrative is about family and how emotional trauma and addiction can be passed on from a generation to the next through abuse. Li’l Bit is the main victim of both of these since she is subjected to physical and emotional abuse from a young age. Therefore, she suffers from the trauma even in her adulthood augmented by her memories of her past. Uncle Peck is a man who suffers from alcoholism and tries to manage it but keeps failing and also suffers from his own emotional unrest. In his predatory acts, he spurs emotional trauma in a young child which will affect her as much as it does him. Li’l Bit is scarred by her past and even engages in sexual activity with a younger man in her adulthood to understand her abuser’s mindset. Furthermore, she also falls into alcoholism like Peck illustrating how trauma is transferrable in terms of how we affect others.
Pedophilia and Incest
The play does not shy away from handling taboo issues of familial abuse particularly sexual abuse within the family sphere. Li’l Bit is a victim of this kind of abuse by his Uncle Peck who is the abuser in this narrative. Uncle Peck shows predatory tendencies from when Li’l Bit is still a young teenager at the age of 13 years old. He bonds with her more than any other family member thus a unique relationship is built between them. However, this allows for Peck to take advantage and begins being sexually inappropriate with the young girl. The behavior continues through her teenage years into the young adult years to an extent that it becomes normalized. Thus, the narrative charts a niece-uncle relationship that turns inappropriate allowing for pedophilic and incestuous vices. It handles these heavy and dark subject matter regarding sexuality to convey how victim-abuser relationships can remain unnoticed or ignored in the family.
Misogyny
Issues of gender and misogyny are also a main focus in the story as it demonstrates how the women are met with casual misogyny often. Li’l Bit as the protagonist from the outset faces misogyny from her male family members even not the outside world yet. The patriarchal society imposes the perception of female roles in society to the women in the narrative. Her grandfather is portrayed as a misogynist who puts down the women in the family from his wife to the grandchildren such as Li’l Bit. Evident through the nicknames branded to the members in the family, with the patriarch giving himself a macho name. Moreover, the novel explores how the female body is objectified from a young age even Li’l Bit is ironically given her pet name due to her large breasts.
