Pelzer, D. (2000) A Child Called ‘It’, London: Orion Books Limited.
I chose the Dave Pelzer testimony to review because of its varying slant on the typical societal perception of child abuse which predominately deems maltreatment as either occurring from infancy, or instigated by males. Evidencing this misconception, Dave’s childhood is portrayed as idyllic until, around aged four, life rapidly deteriorates when his mother develops mental health and alcohol issues and turns from being devoted and loving into a sadistic, controlling and manipulative woman. At the hands of his own mother, Dave is singled out from his two brothers for being ‘naughty’, scapegoated and subjected to appalling treatment which leaves him physically, emotionally
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It begins by highlighting the survival tactics twelve year old Dave has developed, having perfected learning his mother’s thinking style and demand for supremacy, over years of repeated torture. Consumed by hate, but knowing how his mother functions, Dave is aware survival is dependent upon him not retaliating or being disobedient. Terrified of repercussions, Dave instead visibly displays submissive signs to his mother’s beatings, including tears and cowering. The acts of fear-induced compliance can be especially observed when Dave; lies to teachers that his injuries happened accidentally to adhere to his mother’s orders, begged teachers to refrain from contacting his mother, and panicked when he thought the policeman was taking him home, rather than a place of safety. Yet, Dave’s immense terror is understandable as his mother’s ‘discipline’ escalates, becoming progressively more violent, degrading and calculating throughout the …show more content…
Steve is Dave’s hero, whereas mother and son initially appear to have a nurturing and close relationship where they share intimate moments. Catherine’s mental health and alcohol problems, however, destroys their connections and fragments the family unit. With a changed demeanour, Catherine engages in façade parenting of Dave whilst in her partner’s presence and to the outside world. In reality, four year old Dave is inflicted with various punishments by his mum; being made to stand in corners, his face being smacked, as well as smashed into mirrors whilst he is forced into repeating ‘I’m a bad boy’. As Dave grew older the abuse and neglect became regular, harsher and less hidden within the family. Endurances ranged from virtual starvation, ice-cold baths, stabbed in the stomach with a knife, made to eat human excrement, and touch a hot stove, to being poisoned with toxic
Dave Pelzer’s book “A Child Called ‘It’” told his story of growing up in an abusive household. Pelzer’s family at first was just like any other, his parents loved each other and their children and they would do many fun activities together. As time progressed a change happened and his mother began to always punish Pelzer rather than any of the other children. The small punishments soon began to grow and become more and more serious. Soon, Dave’s father and siblings could not help him out of fear that their mother and wife would turn on them. Dave was banished to the garage where he would have to sit at the bottom of the stairs waiting until his mother called him to do his chores. Usually Pelzer would be starved for very long periods of time
Then, his mother began spending her days watching TV and drinking beer. Easily irritated, she yelled at Dave for the slightest reason, or sometimes for no reason at all. Soon, instead of making him go down to the basement, Mrs. Pelzer smashed Dave's face against the mirror, then made him repeat, over and over, "I'm a bad boy! I'm a bad boy!" He was forced to stand for hours staring into that mirror. Dave's father soon joined The Mother, as David called her, in her drinking.
and he didn’t even have anything to cover him. Dad would occasionally sneak him scraps of food, but if he didn’t he would have to starve. 5- Bathroom This is where mother played many games of torture with Dave. She played 'Gas Chamber' which is a dangerous game where Dave has to stay in the bathroom with many different chemicals causing him to choke. She also made him swallow ammonia and made him sit in a bathtub of freezing cold water for hours.
The main characters are David, his mother, and father. David, the abused child, cannot escape his mother’s punishments. David’s mother is a drunken, abusive mother that refers to her child as “It”. David’s father is caring and understanding, but cannot help David escape. The mother and father drastically change after the alcohol abuse. David also changes in his attitude towards his parents.
Child abuse was still on the verge of emerging like mental illness, there were no laws or rights being enforced to protect those against neglect or abuse. Furthermore, all the marks that were present of David’s body had to be cause by more than he was admitting being no one else witnessed the abuse. For instance, when Catherine tried to have David eat the defecated diaper, the abuse stopped when Ron, Stan, and David 's father came back to the vacation cabin (Pelzer, 1995, pp. 57). It was a risky long drawn out rescue mission, but if Catherine had assumed a social case was being built on David’s behalf she may have killed him before he had a chance to realize it. I could not envision myself in a situation of that nature, yet as a person concerned about the well-being of a child, I would have done my own personal questioning to David. I understand teachers have to adhere to protocol, but if you notice everyday your student smells or looks unhealthy, you have to investigate as too why, especially if the mother looks glamorous during a parent teacher conference while the child dresses like a hobo. You may want to question why? Stephen, David 's father was the main person in authority with an opportunity to prevent maltreatment. David 's father stood by watching his son use a five-gallon bucket to relieve his diarrhea. When David was forced to eat
Other examples of physical abuse which David received included the never ending punches from his mother when she felt they were acceptable, when in truth, they were for pure pleasure. Also, the burning incident his mother performed on him because “[He] made [her] life a living hell!” and it was “time [she] showed [him] what hell [was] like!” (Pelzer, 28). This incident David depicted for the reader included his mother forcefully placing his arm above a burning flame upon the kitchen stove. The physical abuse David endured was one in which he would never forget. Luke and Banerjee state that children who are abused physically are more likely to develop “problematic peer relationships” aside from their peers who do not receive maltreatment. David is an
In the book it tells about him and his relationship with alcoholic mother, who beats him, starves him, refuses to give him new clothes, and doesn’t call him by his name but refers to him as "it" or "the boy". At first Dave and his mother have a perfect relationship. Soon his mother starts to drink and singles out one of her sons as the family "slave". She begins her abuse by sending him to school with the same cloths on for a year and no food at all. So for a while Dave steals food from others student’s lunch bags to fill his stomach. Soon his mother ...
It is often common to have an author or the writer of a certain poem write about similar topics and also reflect the same stylistic characters among his or her poems. In Peter Meinke’s two poems, titled Untitled and Advice to my son, he created them both using a specific tone and the same subject to create different themes. Both of these poems also included some of the important elements of poetry.
Dave Pelzer’s book, “A Child Called It” (1995), discussed unforgettable accounts of one of the most severe child abuse cases in California’s history. The book is a captivating, yet intimidating journey through the torturing childhood of the author, himself. The child, David (Dave) Pelzer¸ was emotionally and physically tormented by his mother who was unstable and addicted to alcohol. He was the victim of abuse in his own home, a source of ridicule at his own school, and stripped of all existence. This book left me in suspense as I waited with anticipation for the end of this little boy’s struggle to live. Throughout this paper, I will focus on the events that took place in this book and discuss my personal feelings and the effects this story
The book “This Boy’s Life” by Tobias Wolff is a memoir written about the author’s childhood memories and experiences. The author shows many different characters within the book. Many of them are just minor character that does not affect the author much in his life choices and thoughts throughout his growth. But there are some that acts as the protagonist and some the antagonist. One of them is Dwight, the protagonist’s or Jack’s stepfather. This character seems to be one of the characters that inhibit Jack’s choices and decisions. This character plays a huge role in Jack’s life as it leaves a huge scar in his memory. The author here spends the majority of time in this character in the memoir to show the readers the relationship between Jack and Dwight.
found any excuse to punish Dave, while favoring her other children and her punishments grew more dangerously the older he got. Besides being horribly beaten, Dave was forced to eat his own vomit, swallow soap, ammonia, and Clorox. This was just the beginning of his mother's "games". Initially, she would slap him, smash his face into the mirror and make him repeat "I'm a bad boy!" or make him to search for hours for something she had "lost." But with time, her cruelty grew to include not giving ...
An American author of several autobiographical novels, including his most famous 1995 memoir A Child Called It, was actually the recipient of years of child abuse at the hands of his mother, Catherine. Reading his novels, you would think that such graphic content would only fit in a fiction book, however, the reality of his mother’s so called “games” stands as a memory that Dave carries.
"The Boy in the Striped Pajamas" explores the beauty of a child's innocence in a time of war:
Every individual breathing in this world is generally assumed and anticipated to experience a childhood filled with joy, laughter, and smiles. However, pain, tears, and silence are the memoirs of some children due to child abuse. Child abuse is an issue that has become an epidemic, developing into children’s most unwelcomed nightmares that haunts them on a daily basis. Child victims of abuse can consider the cruel acts being done to them as their preeminent complication of their lives causing them to become unstable. These children tend to lose control over their own lives, bodies, and minds creating catastrophic obstacles to build up in their lives and causing themselves to become weakened and vulnerable due to being confronted by fear that they cannot endure. The many lives of abused children are misguided as they mature because the events that they encounter during their early childhood years influence the construction of their future and behaviors. Child abuse is the barbarous act of maltreatment directed towards children that includes physical abuse, emotional abuse, and sexual molestation which all serve as elements towards leading to the destruction of their lives.
“What distresses me at times is that I meet a lot of people in their 40’s, 50’s, 60’s, who still say they’re a victim of child abuse.” Dave Pelzer.