Similarities Between A Child Called It And Beowulf

Beowulf vs. A Child Called “It”

The autobiography I read was called, A Child Called "It." This story is a true tale about how a boy who was brutally abused and starved by his unstable alcoholic mother. At first, David Pelzer lived a healthy and normal life with his parents and brothers. His mother, however, out of nowhere switched up into a monster, venting her anger on her youngest child. In A Child Called “It” and “Beowulf” both main characters are seen as the heros. One ideal from the Anglo-Saxons would be loyalty to leaders, both of these stories held true to that ideal. Beowulf represented his leaders and town by standing up to go kill grendel. David held true to his “leader” (his mom) by never leaving the house and by never snitching

on her and telling anyone what he goes to on a day to day basis.
In the book David talks about all that he can recall from what his mother did to him.

He was submerged in freezing cold water, forced to eat his own vomit, slept in the basement under the stairs, stabbed, and forced to sit on a burning stove. These are just a few of the torturous games that his mother used to play with him for years on end. As in the title of this book, David saw that she treated him like an “it”, but not like her son. David suffered both mental and physical abuse. In order to survive and come out from his mother's abusive ways and sick games, David used willpower. Through all of her torturous behaviors, David's inner strength began to emerge. In “Beowulf” he faces with the obstacle of trying to take down grendal. Both of these conflicts are similar because both of them had the goal/result of overpowering the force that threatened them the most. These conflicts are different because David Pelzer was a young child and was weak, Beowulf on the other head was strong and powerful and looked up upon. Beowulf had encouragement and the strength to overpower his enemy while David on the other hand didn't want to harm his enemy since it was his mother and didn't know any

better.
The theme of A Child Called “It” is that the human spirit can provide strength in the toughest of situations and to never give up.

David's spirit and positive thinking kept him alive through his mother's emotional and horrible physical abuse. He never thought about running away or leaving and he never let himself give up. He had no one to help him through this extremely tough time and the ones he wanted his most were his family and they were the reasoning for all this, so he had to learn how to fend for himself. His courage and determination saved him from all of the suffering that he endured at such a young age. The theme in “Beowulf” in my opinion was heroism. I believe that because he decided to go and risk his life for everyone else because he believed he had the ability to and he was right. These themes are similar because they both were seen as a hero and both represented one character standing up for what's right and overpowering the bad. These themes are different because “Beowulf” was representing “the good” and standing up to grendal for the sake of everyone but in David’s situation he was only conquering “the bad” (his mother) for himself and to stop the repetitive abuse and torture that everyday would

bring.
The influence of “Beowulf” on his generation was seen as a big deal because he stood up to Grendel and did what everyone else was scared to do. Everyone wanted Grendel dead but no one had the power or strength to do so, so it was left up to Beowulf and he succeeded and everyone looked up to him and appreciated him for that task. David Pelzer’s gained respect from his generation/nation because he was so young and had a hard life but never made it out to be that way, he never wanted pity or attention, and he came out of it alive and now shares his story to inform others on the struggles that he faced. And the dangers and seriousness of child abuse across the world.