The Lost Boy
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A Child Called “it” In his two novels A Child Called “it”, and The Lost Boy, the author, Dave Pelzer explains about his childhood. During that time, author was a young boy from an age 3 to an age 9. Davids mother has started to call him ” The Boy” and “it.” The author mainly covers the relationship between his family. His main focus point is the bond between his mother and him. He describes his mother as a beautiful woman, who loves and cherished her kids , who changed from this ” The Mother,” who abused him because she was alcoholic and was sick. The Mother used David to take her anger out. An abusive mother who systematically closed down any escape he may have from her clutches. Shuts out any source for food for the poor starving child. Poor Dave had nothing left as hope, she convinced neighbours, his teachers, social workers, his younger brothers that Dave was a bad boy and asked them not to pay attention to his condition. Davids description of his brothers went from, loving brothers to mothers slaves. He describers how the love went to hate for his brothers had grew more and more toward the book. He tells that his brothers behavior changes as his mother attitude changes. His brothers starts to take their mother side and start to treat David as non-member of the family. He looked upon his father as a saviour, but the man had no spine. He always thought this ordeal would end someday but it went on increasing. Nevertheless, he found out ways and means to outsmart her, escape her, avoid her. Such a life may seem a dead-end for anyone, but not for Dave.
At the beginning of the book, the story takes place in ” The House” around 1970s in Daly City; California. There is only place in the house for David, and that is the basement. In the basement, he would sleep eat and stay there until he is called for his chores. His survior was school, where he knew he could be away from all the hard treatment and listening to his mothers. He hated being at “The House.” a mother who played tortuous, unpredictable games – games that left him nearly dead. He had to learn how to play his mothers games in order to survive because she no longer considered him a son, but a slave; and no longer a boy, but an “it.” Daves bed was an old army cot in the basement, and his clothes were torn and raunchy. When his mother allowed him the luxury of food, it was nothing more than spoiled scraps that even the dogs refused to eat. The outside world knew nothing of his living nightmare. He had nothing or no one to turn to, but his dreams kept him alive – dreams of someone taking care of him, loving him and calling him their son.
A Child Called It is a first-person narrative of a severely abused child who has survived to tell his tale. Dave Pelzer tells his story to help others heal from the trauma of the past. 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.” Perhaps the security of his early years helped Dave develop enough resilience to survive the abuse and grow up to be an emotionally healthy adult with a child of his own. As he writes: “The challenges of my past have made me immensely strong inside I have a vast appreciation for things that others may take for granted My blessings also mean having the opportunity to meet so many people who had a positive impact on my life. The endless sea of faces, prodding me, teaching me to make the right choices, and helping me in my quest for success.”
Daves purpose of writing these books was to tell the world, how he was treated like many other kids are treated in the families. He was giving a message to other people, how child abuse had changed over many years. There are many kids in the world who are mistreated like David was. Reading his book makes you realize and makes you see through a child perpective of getting abused by this own mother.
Obviously, the stories of Daves childhood are difficult to read. At times, I had to put the book down and walk away for a few days before I could continue. So why would anyone want to read this book, with its seemingly endless tales of torture and cruelty? More importantly, why should anyone read it?
There are two reasons, the first being that Pelzers tale is a testament to how much the human spirit can endure and remain whole. Pelzer tells of his resolve to not be defeated. With each incident, Dave managed to find