The Lost Boy

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. David’s 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. David’s description of his brothers went from, loving brothers to mother’s slaves. He describers how the love went to hate for his brothers had grew more and more toward the book. He tells that his brother’s behavior changes as his mother attitude changes. His brother’s 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 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.” Dave’s bed was an old army cot in the basement, and his clothes were torn and raunchy. When his mother allo...

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... there is no great effort to employ the literary tools we associate with the classics: foreshadowing, detailed metaphors, analysis of motivation, etc. Pelzer relies on "language that was developed from a child's viewpoint" he tells us in the author's notes, resulting in a straightforward "This happened, then this happened, and this is how I felt" approach. What makes the book so compelling is the tale itself, as Pelzer describes incident after incident of cruel torture at his mother's hands and the ineffective and lame efforts of his father to protect him.

Indeed, Dave Pelzer is an admirable man, not only for surviving a horrific childhood and growing up to be a man of many accomplishments, but also for taking us on a journey in A Child Called "It" that forces us to reevaluate our own lives and the world around us. I have yet to read the other two books in Pelzer's trilogy, The Lost Boy and A Man Named Dave, but I am eager to follow the progression of this man's life. Now a doting father, Dave Pelzer provides affirmation that the cycle of abuse can be broken. It is a message that must never be forgotten in our legislatures, our schools, or our hearts