"A Child Called It"

Paper Summary:

This paper examines the book "A Child Called It" which chronicles the unforgettable account of one of the most severe child abuse cases in the history of California. It is the story of Dave Pelzer, who was brutally beaten and starved by his emotionally unstable, alcoholic mother: a mother who played tortuous, unpredictable, as he would call it, 'games' that left him nearly dead. It looks at how he had to learn how to play his mother's games in order to survive, because she no longer considered him a son, but a slave and no longer a boy, but an "it."

From the Paper:

"To take a small look at what David had to endure he had an old army cot in the basement to look forward to when he slept. 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. He describes how his mother would starve him, often for days on end or would give him just two minutes to eat his brothers' leftovers. The outside world knew nothing of his living nightmare, except for a few suspicious people who did not do much about it. He had nothing and no one to turn to, but his dreams kept him alive. He would often dream of someone taking care of him, loving him and calling him their son, appreciating his existence."

More papers on "A Child Called It":

• Book Review # 109629 : "A Child Called It: One Child's Courage to Survive"
• Book Review # 118444 : "A Child Called "It"
• Analytical Essay # 62844 : "Lack of Causality in "A Child Called It"

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