Pelle's childhood is first and foremost coloured by his realtionship with his father. It gives warmth to the poor childhood environment that puts the groundstone for Pelle being exposed to the fighting working class.

The writer uses poetry and humour when he portrays his swarm of original people and dramatic events, the realistic tale about social disparity and the dawning of class struggle. It is together with "Ditte Menneskebarn" Nexø's main literary work.