A Child Called It by David Pelzer - Book Report/Review Example

A Child Called It by David Pelzer Summary: The book A Child Called It accounts for the terrible abuse experienced by David Pelzer during his childhood. In spite of the abuses and sufferings which are narrated throughout the book in a vivid manner, the initial days of the childhood portrayed in the story reflect the glimpse of the perfect childhood days which most of the children live. The book tells readers that David is born in a perfect family and received the love and care from both mother and father. David has also two brothers; his family exists in peace and bliss. However, pretty soon David’s good times come to an end and he starts experiencing the brutal tortures from his own mother. Though it has not been made clear regarding the reason of torture which David faced, but his mother, probably, suffers from the mental alienation which causes her the frustration. The frustration of his mother starts changing David’s life. The punishment of her mother changes from verbal to mental and physical abuse. The physical appearance of David’s mother also changes considerably and her appearance becomes quite rough and unhappy and she will keep on yelling at the children and carry on with her anguish against David. David starts living in the basement of his house and he is also not provided with any food on a regular basis and has to go through the trash cans in the house in search for food. Apart from feeding David poorly, his mother also increases the physical torture over her son. David’s condition further deteriorates at time when his father travels outside to do his job. Such situations back at home make David realize that he is not wanted in the family. David is also kept apart from various family activities and holiday events and is not given with any Christmas gifts. David’s school life is also not encouraging. David hardly has any friends and is mocked by the rest of students in the class. The other students also hide their food form David when they realize that David is in search for food, David is isolated from the rest of the student’s section and does not have peace at any place. Towards the end of the story the writer narrates about the incidents which finally set David free from his torturous life when he becomes blessed with a better life, free from all sorts of abuse. The story comes to an end with the depiction of the relationship full of love and care which David shares with his son expressing his pride of being a father. David’s Family: In the story David refers to his mother both as “mother” and “mom”. In most of the story, when David experiences the brutality, pain and sufferings from his own mother, the character of hers is referred to as mother. However, towards the end of the story the author narrates that sudden change in the behavior of his mother is noticed on some particular day and she begs to forgive her for all her cruel actions which she has carried on with David all the time. David suddenly observes that his mother is repenting and finds the love in her eyes which has been missing for so many days. This entire scenario makes David feel happy and he feels that his bad times are over. The sudden joy within him makes his heart feel a sense of freedom and during the depiction of the changed behavior of David’s mother she has been referred to as mom. Referring to the same character as “mother” and “mom” reflects the changed nature and behavior of the lady. Mother to David is a cruel character who tortures him to the extreme both physically and mentally whereas the term “mom” is associated with senses of affection and love which a child harnesses from a mother. When David’s mother turns out to be his “mom” she allows David to bath properly and wear the clothes which he received last Christmas. David’s “mom” also takes him to a grocery store and purchases toys for him; he is allowed to eat along with his family on dinner time (Pelzer 19-23). However, the changed attitude of David’s mother becomes clear soon, the very next day, as the lady from the social service visits David’s house and enquires David about the kind of behavior he receives from his mother. David realizes that his mother has showered all the love at him out of some particular reasons; it becomes evident to him, when later on she goes on torturing him badly again. Though the book does not mention any particular incidents which could pinpoint the reason for the anguish which David’s mother exhibits towards him, the reason for the outburst of all the anger upon David can be explained by the fact that David is the weakest and the humblest of all the children in the family and, thus, turns into the main victim of his psychologically disturbed mother. David never protests against any of the brutalities and the harshness of the punishment; he tries to gain the strength within himself and develop courage in order to face the extreme physical torture. He never imbibes any mechanism for self-defense and tries to bear the pain and cry in solitude. David’s vulnerability actually makes it easier for David’s mother to carry on with all the attacks. Though David’s mother carries on with her viciousness against him, David’s father is sympathetic to David. David always turns up to his father as a ray of hope and he yearns for his father to return home whenever he goes out for his job. David’s father also turns up to David in order to reduce the pain and suffering which his child faces and tries to help in carrying the task of cleaning his dishes which his mother imposes on him on a regular basis. The day when David gets stabbed by his mother and is asked to clean the dishes, his shirts overflowed with blood, David’s father asks David to handover the dishes to him once he finds out what’s happened to his son. When David’s mother is admitted in the hospital for the delivery of her child, David’s father provides a respite to the torturous life experienced by David. His father feeds him and allows David to play with his brothers; David enjoys the life like the most of the children of his age do. In spite of the affection which David’s father has for him he never protests regarding the misbehavior which his mother carries on with him. Like David his father also doesn’t have the guts to protest against the deeds of his mother and only prays to God to make situation better. With the range of torture increasing on David his father also starts staying away from home as it is difficult for him to see his son suffers in front of his eyes. The extension of the tortures faced by David makes him totally depleted and lonely. He is not offered any food. Lack of food makes David work days and nights long and pursue the order of his mother. The torture carried out by David’s mother turns him to be a slave and even his brothers try to act in a superior way to him. David is not allowed to have dinner or food with the family and he is not given any Christmas gifts as well. However, his mother purchases a skating toll for him and presents him so that he can carry out the outdoor task in the chilly winter; she punishes him by forcing him to stay outside in the cold without any warm clothes on while his brothers are enjoying the warm food inside the house. All these incidents make him feel that he does not belong to the family. Of the series of incidents of torture and violence faced by David the worst experiences can be accounted to the fact when David’s mother places the rotten food for David to steal and eat and he vomits after having eaten the food. The most treacherous part of this incident comes when his mother further forces him to gulp down that rotten food which he vomits in front of his father. Another cruel incident, which is worth being mentioned, is when David gets stabbed brutally by his mother and then is asked to carry on with the task of cleaning the dishes on time. (Pelzer 42) Considering the kind of life David lives, it is easy for him to give up hopes about the chance the situation can change for better. Indeed, he accepts his destiny and keeps on containing with his rigorous life. But the willingness of David to survive and to keep on living his life till the end whatever it takes; his strength to fight and overcome every precarious situation finally brings a change of fortune. It seems that the disastrous life which David has been living in years could make it easy for him to put an end to his life but the strength he displays is worth being praised and admired. The time when David’s father leaves his home and he stays alone, face to face with his treacherous mother, all by himself, is really a critical conjuncture in his life. Conclusive remarks The novel clearly focuses on the nature of the brutality which a child can face from his parents. The novel also helps to convey an important message to the parents, which may make them treat their children with utmost love and care during their early years. The novel elaborates the abuses over the psychology of a child in a heart touching manner. The emotional aspect of the story and the depiction of the suffering of a child attain a realistic picture as the novel incorporates the various evidences of autobiographical elements. The main character of the story, David, represents a large section of the children who receive the same treatment which David has experienced over the years. Though all the incidents eventually help David to become much stronger, it is not expected from every child in the society to behave in the same manner in as David does. Such incidents may cause self-destruction behavior of a child. The work also helps in the study of the victimology as it clearly underlines the nature of the relations between victims and an oppressor. The nature of torment undergone by the victim is also vividly presented in the book. The change of psychology and the perception of various things which a child under torture experiences has been explained in a clear fashion as well. In the story it has been mentioned that due to the oppression faced by David he starts hating himself and every person and element associated with him. Such state of mind of David reflects the nature of degradation which a child can have when he/she experiences such instances over a regular period of time. These situations are indeed threatening and can result in serious troubles for children who get through the same life as that of David. Such situations may give rise to cases of psychological imbalance of the children and may turn them to commit serious crimes involving killing people in the future. In the present world such instances of child torture and improper care for a child are rising on a steep note, which give the novel a bigger value as it highlights such problems. In order to develop a better society the incidents occurred in David’s life should be eliminated and children around the world should be given the utmost love and care from their parents for their proper development; children should not be neglected or dealt in a harsh manner. The novel is a superb example of a child’s quandary in the modern society and also depicts a vivid picture of his chronicle to survive against all kinds of hostilities. The novel has a serious implication to the society and it stresses on the fact that children should not be materialized or made as subjects of torture for seeking any sort of pleasure. Works Cited Pelzer, David J. A Child Called It: One Child's Courage to Survive. Missouri: HCI, 1995. Print. Read More