A Child Called ItEssay Preview: A Child Called It1 rating(s)Report this essayAs a child Dave Pelzer was brutally beaten and starved by his emotionally unstable, alcoholic mother; a mother who played tortuous, unpredictable games that left one of her sons nearly dead. She no longer considered him a son, but a slave; no longer a boy, but an it. His bed was an old army cot in the basement, his clothes were torn and smelly, and when he was allowed the luxury of food it was scraps from the dogs bowl. The outside world knew nothing of the nightmare played out behind closed doors. Dave dreamed of finding a family to love him and call him their son. It took years of struggle, deprivation and despair to find his dreams and make something of himself. A Child Called It covers the early years of his life and is an affecting and inspiration memoir of one childs determination to survive.
In most of my classes Ive always heard that your parents are the most important people in your life and I truly believe this. People are affected by everything their parents say and do both in childhood and later on in adulthood. If a child is constantly looked down upon and made to believe that nothing they do is good enough, chances are they will grow up believing this and having low confidence. It is remarkable that a child Davids age fought himself from breaking down, dissolving into tears and giving up hope for a better future. David constantly worked towards or rather survived because of a dream, a dream t hat he was a prince and that everyone loved him. It was this strong belief and sense that he was not “bad” that allowed him to survive and escape his torturous existence.
You may remember that in training we emphasize how many abused and neglected children remain so attached to their families that they want to live with them at any cost. This was not Dave Pelzers experience. He grew to hate his mother for singling him out for systematic torture. His anger helped him survive: “I wanted to show The Bitch that she could beat me only if I died, and I was determined not to give in, even to death.” (91)
After a visit from his mother at his foster home, David decides to take back all of the things he told Mrs. Gold about his mother. He lied and told her that all the stories about his mother beating him and mistreating him were untrue and that he really was a bad child. As much as Mrs. Gold tried to reassure him David continued to lie and yell at Mrs. Gold. “David, you have to understand that in a persons life there are a few precious moments in which decisions, choices that you make now, will effect you for the rest of your life” (57). This explains the ethical dilemma that David was put in. Although he wanted to free himself from the pain of his mother he also did not want to hurt his
ࣴ-4 . If his mother did not do as he would have wanted, or not as she was asked to do David would have felt guilty and embarrassed. Perhaps the “badest thing” David did to himself was to give Mrs. Gold’s family as many of his ‘best’ moments as possible, ‟-5 . If you think this is too extreme, please read my essay of December 2011, in which I describe how a child can put an end to an emotional trauma when he, as well as to others, see the situation as one that must be handled. I went further with a book that I wrote for a local non-profit, and found that this book was a must read for a young person with special needs. This book was produced by the family of William B. Gold. I also gave it an audio recording, which was created by M. M. Tzafir and M.D. I am a good friend of M.T. and read his book in a language I already understand, which is not English. This book is extremely informative, as is my opinion of all my stories about David. I think that it makes the story for the people in my life much shorter and I think that it makes stories a more important part of family history. This book has been used by many people as a guide to dealing with the difficulties of parenting. David, have you considered the idea that David is not responsible for these situations? What if, instead of trying to “fix” his mother with kindness, David just goes back to making mistakes that lead everyone else to think differently? David, I believe that that should not be the case. He is in some ways your kind, and he may do anything for you. However, there is no need to do him any favors. If he was not involved with the situation, it would be far worse for him, and in my judgment he cannot be responsible for the situation. We would have to leave the situation at the child’s decision as well, but I trust that God does not go into the details of his actions in this matter. There are many other factors that could be going on which I would like to address, but the first of them involves one of the greatest problems of a child. Let me begin by explaining why I believe that God chooses bad children. If you have been asked why God would have given you good kids that will take care of you, it may well be that you would want good people to spend time with you. The Bible declares that God does this: “[w]hat he will do is for one or more of his people,” but in this case, we do mean ”