Karen Morris-Priester's Character Analysis: A Child Called It

Let's play spot the difference. Ready? Karen Morris-Priester, an African American woman, was raised in a middle class family in Harrisburg, PA with her mother, a secretary, her father, a police officer, and her 4 sisters. Okay, Karen Morris-Priester was raised in a middle class family in Harrisburg, PA with her mother, a secretary, her father, a police officer, an alcoholic, and an abuser, and her 4 sisters. Spot the difference? When I hear about someone who grew up in an abusive home, I immediately think of the book “A child called IT” The child is severely abused by his mother, grows up being bullied, not having the motivation to live, ends up succeeding in life, etcetera etcetera. Unlike “A Child Called It,” the roles were reversed. The mom was abusing Dave, the main character, while the father stood idly by. Karen had an extremely supportive mother instead of a submissive father. She always wanted the best for her children. So, with the tension caused by her father’s abusiveness and the pressure of acquiescence, Karen’s mom chose to move

Remember how Karen wanted to become a doctor? She didn’t give up her dream. After she graduated with her associates, she got married. But her husband was not supportive of this long-time aspiration of hers. Among other reasons, they got divorced and Karen kept the kids. So here we are again, this single mother of five (in case you don’t remember, Karen’s mom had five kids and raised them by herself.) but, Karen went back to college to get her bachelor's degree despite the negativity received from her ex husband.
Again, she exceeded all expectations and graduated among the top of her class. During those last few years of undergrad., Karen had been secretly taking premed courses. And she secretly took the MCAT. She didn't want people knowing her goals because of how they might react. A black single mother of five trying to go to medical school wasn’t very likely according to