Summary And Analysis Of A Child Called It By David Pelzer

715 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Analysis of a child called by dave pelzer

A Child Called It book summary/analysis
This book is called, “A Child Called It” by David Pelzer’s is about the life of a child named David that lives in Daly City, California with his dad named Stephen Joseph who works as a fireman in San Francisco, CA .As well, with his mother named Catherine Roerva and his four brothers named Stan, Ronald, Russell, and Kevin (the smallest).At the beginning, David has a wonderful life because he has a wonderful time with his parents and his brothers. His mother cares and loves him. She prepares delicious food for her family and dresses up very nice like, does her make up. The family takes vacations together to different places for example, Portola, Memorial Park, the Russian River and camped out for a week. Stephen his dad doesn’t spend a lot of time at home because he has to work a 24hour shifts and he loves David who he calls “Tiger”. Catherine his mother makes sure her house is clean, loves her children, and plans the family vacations. She takes the boys to field trips while dad is working and prepares delicious and exotic food for her husband and kids. Also, they spend the holidays as a family with different activities .For example, in Christmas where the whole family decorate the tree and each year one of the boys is honor to place the angel at the top of the tree. However, everything changes when David mothers caught him at mischief and starts to punish him more than his brothers even if she caught them all committing the same crime. She started to punish David by putting him in a corner of his bedroom and he would stay there until one of his brothers will ask his mother if he could come out to play. Then, she grab David face and smashed it against the mirror and he repeated, “I’m a bad b...

... middle of paper ...

... will let out all her anger into David. In one occasion David mother stabbed him and didn’t took him to the hospital despite that he would do chores in that condition. Whenever David thought that her mother was changing she would just be nice to him because a social worker or another person would go to the house. Besides, his father witnessing all these incidents he would not do anything to protect David and he was tired of all these things that he left David alone and his family. Even after Kevin was born his mother never changed. To add up, on March 5, 1973 that’s when David became free from his mother because he told the true to the school nurse and she recorded everything in a paper then all his teachers meet to discuss the bad treatment from his mother. After, all he was taken into custody of the San Mateo Juvenile Department and was finally free.

Show More
Related

  • Abuse In Dave Pelzer's 'A Child Called It'

    1286 Words  | 3 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • The Luckiest Girl Analysis

    731 Words  | 2 Pages

    In addition, he promises to “buy [her] a diamond ring” and “take [her] on a round-the-world cruise” (October 4). Flattered by his romantic gestures, Anita acknowledges these gifts as David’s affection towards her. On the other hand, she feels guilty towards David spending his college money towards expensive gifts. In fact, Anita’s guilt intensifies as “he doesn’t … care” (October 18) about the financial consequences, but only her. Now, she feels morally compelled to obey David’s commands. Soon after, she “[quits] the basketball team” (October 18) “[knowing] it [is] what he wants” (October 18). By complying with David’s commands, she pleases him, and her guilt diminishes. Above all, David introduces a flashback of his mother “[walking] out on his dad” (October 11) because “his dad [is] rough with her” (October 11) as an excuse for his assault on Anita. Additionally, he attributes his misconduct to his mother’s departure. Astonished, Anita proceeds

    Read More

  • Character Analysis Of Aja Houston's Life

    1710 Words  | 4 Pages

    The protagonist is Aja Houston. She grew up in Middletown Delaware. She was the oldest out of three daughters. She considered herself the "experimental “child. Her parents were very young when they started a family. Her mother struggled to graduate high school because she got pregnant with Aja and biological father never step up and decided to stay in the streets collecting drug money. Houston was very lucky that at age two her mother found the man of her dreams and he was said to be one of the greatest gifts god had given her. She had a very special bond with her beautiful mother she was her first child, who she had raised alone for two years with the support of her mother and grandmother. Her mother was a very strong minded independent woman

    Read More

  • A child Called It by Dave Pelzer

    2130 Words  | 5 Pages

    A Child Called “It” is a story based on a real life little boy’s tribulations with his mothers shocking abuse. The first part of Dave's life was idyllic in his memory--he says his family was "the Brady Bunch"--a loving mother and father with whom he enjoyed wonderful holidays and a happy trip to the Russian River. Everyone on the outside thought that David’s family was perfect. No one in their neighborhood would have suspected anything was wrong. All that changed when Dave was in first grade. For no known reason, his mother singled him out from his siblings and began abusing him. The abuse began relatively mildly. When he and his brothers did something wrong, Dave was the one to receive punishment--at first simply banishment to the corner of a bedroom. 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. He, too, knew David was a "good boy." He did not join in the abuse, but he did not to stop it, either. David was treated like a slave in his own home. His mother treated him as if he wasn’t even a member of the family like a nobody or an “It”. She first referred to him as, “The Boy, then it quickly changed to It”. Nobody at his school liked him, they called him "Pelzer Smelzer" because his mom never washed his clothes and made him wear the same thing every day. After school, o...

    Read More

  • How the Narrator Learns Racism in "Montana 1948"

    543 Words  | 2 Pages

    Maturity changes the way people think act and behave towards other people, David the main character displays this clearly as his view on his Father and Uncle Frank develop and change. At the beginning when we are first introduce to all the characters , we see that David admires Uncle Franks as being a hero and just a all round qualities. But this is all changes when David later on discovers that Uncle Frank molesters and take advantage of Indian woman with his power as a doctor. “After what just happened with Marie I don’t want to be left alone with Uncle Frank”. Davis father is a sheriff, a very unique one as he does not wear a badge or carry any gun. David’s attitude towards his father also changes, David did not believe his father played the role of sheriff as he should have but this all changes when the incident with Uncle Frank and Maire is taken place. As Wesley doses t...

    Read More

  • Analysis Of A Lucky Child By Thomas Buergenthal

    1157 Words  | 3 Pages

    A Lucky Child by Thomas Buergenthal is a memoir about his time as a Jewish child in multiple ghettos and death camps in and around Germany during World War II. The author shares about his reunions with family and acquaintances from the war in the years between then and now. Buergenthal wished to share his Holocaust story for a number of reasons: to prevent himself from just being another number, to contribute to history, to show the power and necessity of forgiveness, the will to not give up, and to question how people change in war allowing them to do unspeakable things. The memoir is not a cry for private attention, but a call to break the cycle of hatred and violence to end mass crimes.

    Read More

  • A Child Called It By Dave Pelzer

    673 Words  | 2 Pages

    1. In the book, the father tries to help the son in the beginning but then throughout the book he stops trying to help and listens to the mother. If I had been in this same situation, I would have helped get the child away from his mother because nobody should have to live like that. The father was tired of having to watch his son get abused so eventually he just left and didn’t do anything. David thought that his father would help him but he did not.

    Read More

  • Child Abuse In David Pelzer's A Child Called It

    2246 Words  | 5 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • Maltreatment In David Pelzer's A Child Called It

    2264 Words  | 5 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • A Story of a Boy in a Dystopian Society in The Giver By Lois Lowry

    746 Words  | 2 Pages

    Lois Lowry, the author of the book The Giver, often portrays her young protagonists from her experience as a child. Lowry was born on March 20, 1937 (Dellinger). During her early life, she was very interested in reading and was very solitary (Dellinger). This is where she got her idea to become an author. Lowry went on to pursue her dream of writing at Brown University (Dellinger). After graduating, she went back to college at the University of Southern Maine to further study writing (Dellinger). Lowry married a Naval officer and together they had four children (Dellinger). Lowry often used her children's escapades as inspiration for her books (Dellinger). Continuing on, The Giver is a story about a young boy named Jonas who lives in a dystopian society (Hanson). Jonas is different, though, because unlike the others in the community, he has the ability to see color and retain memories such as war, snow, and even a sunburn (Hanson). To sum up, Lois Lowry uses foreshadowing, setting, and symbolism in The Giver to portray the theme man vs. society.

    Read More

  • In the Fall, by Alistair Macleod

    1297 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...e on her part. Throughout the story, the Mother is portrayed as the dominant figure, which resembled the amount of say that the father and children had on matters. Together, the Father, James, and David strived to maintain equality by helping with the chickens and taking care of Scott; however, despite the effort that they had put in, the Mother refused to be persuaded that Scott was of any value and therefore she felt that selling him would be most beneficial. The Mother’s persona is unsympathetic as she lacks respect and a heart towards her family members. Since the Mother never showed equality, her character had unraveled into the creation of a negative atmosphere in which her family is now cemented in. For the Father, David and James, it is only now the memories of Scott that will hold their bond together.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Giovanni's Room

    1421 Words  | 3 Pages

    David growing up as a child lived in a house where there was no love shown or caring relationships. He grew up not knowing what good relationships looked like or felt like. David did not think too highly of his dad or aunt and always had

    Read More

  • Summary Of Quarantine In The Novel 'The Loners'

    752 Words  | 2 Pages

    David, the main character in the book, realizes that his girlfriend Hilary has cheated on him. To make things even worse she is cheating with one of his friends from the football team, Sam. David tries to talk to Hilary but she thinks he hasn’t been the same since his mother died about a year ago. Later, David beats up Sam at a party.

    Read More

  • This Boy’s Life by Tobias Wolff

    1151 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • This Boy's Life

    846 Words  | 2 Pages

    Literature has been a unifying, essential, and magical force since the beginning of time. Great books are a fundamental part of human life and culture, but it is often hard to distinguish a good book from any other. This Boy’s Life, by Tobias Wolff is an excellent book; its relatable characters make it personal, its themes and stories challenge perspectives, and it leaves readers hoping for a sequel to continue the novel. There are no set rules for a good book, and there will most likely never be, but a book that captures emotions and captivates audiences must be doing something right. Tobias Wolff has the ability to leave his readers with something special when they are finished. He has the ability to write a good book.

    Read More

More about Summary And Analysis Of A Child Called It By David Pelzer

Open Document