I believe the theme of this book is that you can overcome anything as long as you keep your head up. Dave always kept his head up and believed that one day he would leave that house that almost killed him. “It is important for people to know that no matter what lies in their past, they can overcome the dark side and press on the a brighter world" he would tell himself that when he would tell himself that while he sat on his hands on the garage steps. Even at night he would think “At night I no longer dreamed, nor did I let my imagination work during the day. The once vibrant escapes of watching myself fly through the clouds in bright blue costumes, were now a thing of the past. When I fell asleep, my soul became consumed in a black void. I no longer awoke in the mornings refreshed; I was tired and told myself that I had one day less to live in this world. I shuffled through my chores, dreading every moment of every day. With no dreams, I found that words like hope and faith were only letters, randomly put together into something meaningless - words only for fairy tales. ” There was time when he would get kind of bitter and think “Inside, my soul became so cold I hated everything. I even despised the sun, for I knew I would never be able to play in its warm presence. I cringed with hate whenever I heard other children laughing, as they played outside. My stomach coiled whenever I smelled food that was about to be served to somebody else, knowing it wasn't for me.” Not always did he think this way it would happen when he thought to him self after mother would punish him.