Source: Goodreads
Family is the place where we should get love and happiness. It is supposed to be a safe place but sometimes it turns out to be the place where we get our deepest scar. Many children are said to be abused by their parents.
Introduction
Book’s Name - A Child Called “It”
Author’s Name - Dave Pelzer
Genre - Biography
Language - English
Synopsis (No Spoiler!)
This book by Dave Pelzer is an autobiography that tells the story of a young boy who was beaten, starved, and tortured by his mother. Despite all these terrible things, he managed to turn around his life. David Pelzer uses his internal motivation and courage to come out from his dark time and speak in public which changes his life.
About the Author
David Pelzer was born on 29TH December 1960, in San Francisco, California. He is an American author who wrote several autobiographical and self-help books. His first book, A Child Called "It", was listed on The New York Times Bestseller List for several years. He had sold at least 1.6 million copies in 5 years.
About the Book
A Child called “It” is a true story about one child's survival of one of the worst child abuse cases ever reported in California history. Dave Pelzer lived in a world of starvation, cruelty, and torture from the age of 4 to 12 years. On March 5, 1973, he was rescued by his school. This autobiography will both horrify and inspire you all.
Can you imagine a mother who is always considered a figure of love, doing such a horrible thing to her son? You can’t. Right? But David was brutally beaten and starved by his alcoholic mother. She used to play games like if he fails to wash the dishes, he was beaten and if he has done all the chores, he was rewarded with his brother's leftover cereal that even the dogs refused to eat. She no longer considered David a son, but a slave; and no longer a boy, but an "it."
She even humiliated him from going to school by not allowing him to clean himself and making him wear the same tattered clothes daily. But this abusive behavior of his mother doesn’t start from the very beginning. He mentioned that his mother loved him. But suddenly everything changed.
His mother Catherine beats, kicks, punches, tortures, and verbally abuses David by saying he had been a bad boy. He was not even allowed to have fun with family during vacation or not even allowed to play with his brothers.
She always comes up with new ideas to torture him. One day she burns his arm badly, another day she makes him stay in the cold backyard for hours. She made David eat his vomit when she thought that he had stolen the food. Not only was this but her subsequent punishment was to take spoons full of ammonia and bleach.
How can a mother do that? Even, how can a human do that to somebody? She was insane. She lost all her humanity. She even scolded her husband when he tried to help David. As years passed, the severity of abuse increased.
Even David’s father was not able to save him and left them. This makes David angrier. Of course, he should be, he was his father. He was his only savior. How can he put a blind eye to his wife’s violent behavior? How can he not take David with him?
He even ignored it when David told him that his mother stabbed him with a knife. They never took him to the hospital and his mother never acknowledged that she has done something wrong. And this part of the book gave me goosebumps. How can a parent be that cruel to their child? They don’t even have the right to be called a mother or a father.
How these parents are even teaching their children? David’s younger brother even tortured him also. He never respects him and lives under the rule of his mother because she favors him not David. That’s what they are teaching, isn’t it? I don’t even understand that if you can’t take care of your child then why do you even give birth to them. Then, what’s the point. You can teach every lesson to them with care and love. But no you just have to boss around.
We as children have a heart too. We as humans also get hurt. We too need love and support!! Even after having a breakdown, he survived. David survived with the thinking that if he remains strong his mother will lose her games. He changes his life with some courage and internal motivation.
Famous Quotes
“Love and honor thy mother, for she is the fruit that gives thou life.”
“With no dreams, I found that words like hope and faith were only letters, randomly put together into something meaningless— words only for fairy tales.”
“Unfortunately, there are those among the uninformed public who believe that most abuse is nothing more than parents exerting their “right” to discipline their children and letting it get a little out of hand”
“I believe it is important for people to know that no matter what lies in their past, they can overcome the dark side and press on to a brighter world”
“Childhood should be carefree, playing in the sun; not living a nightmare in the darkness of the soul.”
“Inside, my soul became so cold I hated everything. I even despised the sun, for I knew I would never be able to play in its warm presence. I cringed with hate whenever I heard other children laughing, as they played outside. My stomach coiled whenever I smelled food that was about to be served to somebody else, knowing it was not for me.”
My rating is 3/5
Get your own copy on amazon
Written by – Vipasha
Edited by - Kritika Sharma
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