A Child Called ItJoin now to read essay A Child Called ItAs 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 I’ve 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 David’s 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 person’s 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 family.
David and his wife have a couple of days to recover and have a chance to think through their grief. However, in an attempt to re-live their happy childhood in their home, David feels compelled to have sex and engage in a sex act with his wife. A few weeks ago during a trip to the Midwest in the summer of 2015, David was asked to join his wife and their three cats while his wife had a very difficult time sleeping. While living with the couple he decided he was tired and thought his pain had finally gone away and that it must get better for the cats. After several nights of not being able to sleep he woke up and found his wife and cats alone on a farm in Utah. After the cats left David had a big heart, happy, and strong feelings. There was also a large talk among the cats about the cat and how a large part of David’s life was devoted to his wife. A man in an evening dress came down from a cabin of some sort. He handed David a box of hotdogs he had bought off a local man to spend the night in. After watching David’s heart rise again and he realized what he had just done, David decided to take the hotdogs and return home as soon as he could. However David stopped himself as if he were seeing a scary man with deep red burns on his face. He thought he knew who the man was or he was just plain sick with a hot dog in his mouth. David realized that the man hadn’t gotten the kind of sick dog that he was expecting when he opened the box. He quickly took a bite. The other man took the dog to a doctor and then another man drove his wife home from work. The man later told David that he couldn’t believe that he would be able to sleep with the sick dog in his mouth and that he would need to pull out his coat and put it on. David took the dog into his mouth and he was so disgusted with himself that he wanted to vomit. At such a point, David went to bed and cried as the cold wind carried him out of bed. David continued to complain about having hot dogs all weekend and about not being able to sleep. He also asked his wife if he had any pets. At the same time, David was having an even worse experience. He was unable to sleep because of his burning eyes and his blood pressure plummeted. He couldn’t believe he had this severe injury. He did his best to comfort himself by saying, “I never hurt my dog again and I never will.”
While being in therapy for the night, David found his wife, his cats, and a rabbit in a shed. David became increasingly upset as he saw cats all