I Am A Bad Boy, By Dave Pelzer

Catherine changed. She began drinking more then usual and soon enough her behavior took a dramatic turn. By easily becoming frustrated, Dave the most hyper of her children became the bane of her existence. The author never clearly explained the cause of his mother’s madness, as he will never know. The 1960s was a time period where people did not intervene in others personal matters. This is why Pelzer’s case went unnoticed for quite a while.

Catherine’s behavior went unnoticed especially by her husband, as he was a firefighter and wasn’t home most of the time. Catherine found any reason possible to abuse Dave and clearly favored her other children over him. As Dave Pelzer got older the more severe the punishments got. It started out with his mother grabbing him and slapping him across the face followed by standing him in front of a mirror and making him repeat, “I am a bad boy” (Pelzer, 38). Each time he repeated that phrase his mother would take his face and smash it into the mirror. This was only the beginning of the treachery that Dave endured.

The extensive use of pathos in this novel is exemplified in the scenario where Catherine forces Dave to lay on a burning stove naked. The ruthlessness does not end there. After preventing Dave from consuming any food for about 3 days his mother claims that he must finish cleaning the dishes within 20 minutes. Extremely drunk his mother holds a knife and puts it in front of his face and screams, “If you don’t finish on time, I’m going to kill you” (Pelzer, 50). In her blurred state of mind Catherine lost her footing and stabbed Dave.

“It took Mother nearly half an hour to dress my wound. There was no remorse in her eyes. I thought that, at the very least, she would try to comfort me...

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...of frozen pumpkin pie crust or a bit of a taco shell, I was the king, and like a king on his throne, I gazed down on my food and smiled” (Pelzer, 79). This sense of superiority attributes to the point that one should never give up regardless of how difficult the situation may be.

Dave Pelzer has shown admirable character for surviving a horrendous childhood and also for becoming a man that strives to please his family and works for the betterment of society. His clear and concise writing style in this novel provides us with a child’s viewpoint, which makes the book more emotional then it possibly could be. With the use of metaphors Dave Pelzer establishes the claim that the human spirit has the capability to fight back regardless of the condition that it is in. This story should be a source of inspiration and motivation for those who believe that all hope is lost.