Plot Overview

Dave Pelzer suffered severe child abuse from his

mother. In this story he narrates the horrible things
his mother did to him. The story starts off at the
year 1973 when Dave is 13 years old. In the first
chapter of the book, Pelzer narrates how the officer
that had picked him up from school that day took
him to a highway and told him he was free and had
the chance to start a life without his horrible
mother. After that he goes back in time and narrates
how things led up to that event from chapter one.
Pelzer narrates that as a young boy his life was like
any other normal boys life. His mom, his dad, his
brother and him used to be a really happy family.
They used to go out together and have family fun
times. Pelzer described his family as a happy
family. His father was a fireman and his mother
used to be a loving housewife. However, his
mothers attitude changed drastically as Dave
entered 1st grade.. All small boys create mischief
and Dave always got caught doing mischief and
his Mother would call him a bad boy. After calling
him bad boy, she started creating punishment for
him like looking at a mirror and saying he was a
bad boy. To add a little physical pain she would slap
his face into the mirror and make his nose
bleed.After this she started playing the food game
with Dave. First she would tell him he had to do
certain chores before he could get food. After that
she would make him do so many chores he would
earn no food and starve him.Since Dave never
gave up, he did finish the chores and the food he
was given to eat were scraps of food left from his
brothers. His mother starved him, and he went
really skinny. She even made him throw up food he
would steal from kids in school. He also had to
sleep in the basement because he was not
considered part of the family. His mother also
slapped him, punched him, burned him, and made
him eat cleaning products that would make him
hallucinate things. His mother was very cruel and
Daves father wasn't really home so he never put a
stop to this. His brothers did not even pay attention
to him, his mother made the whole family believe
he was an it not a person. Throughout the story
the readers can learn Daves parents were having

About the Author

Dave Pelzer wrote this autobiography based off the
horrible experiences he lived through as a child.He
was born on December 29, 1960 in San Francisco
California. He wrote this book on 1955 that narrates his
life as an abused child. It is known that in 1973, Pelzers
teachers found out about the abuse he was suffering at
home and so they sent him to a foster home. When
Pelzer turned 18, he entered the us army.Pelzer goes
around the country giving lectures and shares how he
survived his mothers abuse. His book is so explicit that
some people doubt Dave was abused that badly. That is
the reason why Dave does not give many interviews.

Historical Context
The story takes place between the 1960s to the
1970. The story also takes place in Daly City,
California which is where Dave grew up. Between
the years 1960-1970 it is known that there were
newly developing social service channels that
motivated the public to begin reporting suspected
abuse. As the channels for reporting the
maltreatment of children increased, it has helped
children get rescued and give help to the families.
The problem with this is that yes this program
helped children that were abused and helped
families that were struggling. However, there were
no programs that help prevent those problems. It
was not until 1974 that they passed the, federal
Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention and Treatment
Act (CAPTA) which helped prevent maltreatment of
kids by creating child protective systems and
enforcing reporting laws.

Novel Notes
A Child Called It
Dave Pelzer
Natalia Nava
May 3,2016

Essential Quotes
Whenever Mother struck me,it was as if she were
taking her aggressions out on a rag doll.Inside,my
emotions swirled back and forth between fear and
intense anger.But outside I was a robot,rarely
revealing my emotions; only when I tough it would
please The Bit*h and work to my advantage.I held
in my tears,refusing to cry because I didnt want to
give her the satisfaction of my defeat(Pelzer 131132).
As the years passed by and the beatings became
more intense, I thought about Mothers age and
tried to calculate when she might die.I longed for
the day when her soul would be taken to hell;only
then would I be free of her.I also hated Father.He
was fully aware of the hell I lived in,but he lacked
the courage to rescue me as he had promised so
many times in the past(134).
Add Work Cited Here: (google how to do this)
University, P. (2016). - The Future of Children - .

problems, his dad used to be out of home lots of

the time and when he was home, his parents
would fight. Daves mother would get drunk and let
out her anger on poor Dave, blaming all her
problems on him.However Daves courage and
hope to survive helped him live through that living
hell.

Character Analysis
Dave-A little boy who had lots of strength and
determination to not let his mom win. He wanted to
show her he was strong and even though she
would abuse of him, he never showed her he was
suffering. He did not want to give her the pleasure
of seeing him suffer. Dave struggled for about 10
years to get food and had to live though his
mothers torment. Dave is a survivor of child abuse.
Daves mother- She used to be a loving mother but

Futureofchildren.org. Retrieved 25 April 2016, from

http://futureofchildren.org/publications/journals/articl
e/index.xml?
journalid=71&articleid=510&sectionid=34

Themes

Motifs and Symbols

Faith- One major thing Dave has throughout the

book is faith. Dave has faith in God and prays to
him for help. While he spent his cold nights at the
basement he would pray to God to ask him for help
to end the misery he was living in. As time passed
and abuse just grew he started to doubt his faith.
He started to think God was not by his side, but
once he was left free, he finally knew God heard his
prayers.This can teach readers that have faith in

The school-To Dave his school was the only place

where he could escape from his mothers abuse.
His school was his safe house. At school he could
eat he could also steal food to get at least some
food in his system.Later on in his life, the school
staff were the people that cared and gave him love.
They showed him that they cared.
The basement-The basement can represent how
the family trated dave not as humans but more like
a pet. He could not even live under the same roof
as his family. Living in the basement represents

due to problems with her husband who would drink

a lot and not be home lots of the time, she started
to get mad and she started letting her anger out n
Dave. She had no soul and went to the extreme of
telling him she would kill him. She even threw a
knife at him that created a cut by his ribs. She had
no soul because how can a mother treat her child
like this.
Daves father- He used to be daves ero because at
first when he started to get abused by his mother,
she would not hurt him when his father was a at
home. But as time went by he started to be less
and less at home emailing Daves mother would hit
him all the time. Eventually when the dad did come
home he would get drunk and the mom just hurt
Dave because the dad did nothing to save him.
Dave lost respect for his father and hated him as
much as his mother because he didn't try to help
him
Daves brothers-Even though he does not mention
his brother mush, his brothers play a big role in this
story because they saw how Dave got mistreated
however, they did nothing to hkp hi or stop his
mother. They were not true brother to Dave
because they did not try to help him.
The Nurse-The nurse in Daves school plays a big
role in Daves life because thanks to her, she
reordered al the bruises Dave had on his body and
gave him not only support but the love he did not
get at home. His classmates didn't like him, he was
hated at home, finally the nurse and staff from the
school gave love to him.

God, that God does hear our prayers.

Hope-Throughout the whole book, Dave has hope
that one day he will be free. He has hope and this
hope keeps his strong to fight through the pain and
not give in to to his mothers games.
Courage- Dave has the courage to keep fighting
everyday. He has no love nor support from anybody
yet he has the courage to keep fighting because he
values and wants to save his life.
Survival- DAve hs to find ways to survive! HIs mom
starves him yet he finds ways to get food. He thinks
up different methods to get food. He tried to steal
his classmatess food from their lunch pails, after
that plan does not work, he starts to steal food from
the store, he runs to the store and steals the
food.This book is not only about fighting the pain,
but also finding ways to survive.
Abuse-The main theme in the story is abuse. The
whole book talks about how his mother abused him
and tortured him. Not only did she hurt him
physically,but she also hurt him mentally by making
him feel insecure, and unworthy.
Neglect- This story revolves around the theme of
neglect. Dave gets neglected by his whole family.
No one loves him and he has no support from his
family.
Kindness -Kindness can be seen in this story when
the Child Protective agencies take Save away from
his home. The Child Protection agency shows that
the is lots of kindness in this world, there are people
that care about you because everyone is worthy to
live a happy life.

Daves world as darkness with no light, no

happiness.
Home- In this story, Daves hope symbolizes living
hell. Usually home should be the place where you
feel the safest and happiest but in this story his
home is the place where he does not want to be.
HIs home is his torture room. When he gets home
he must suffer his moms abuse and he must do
chores almost every day.
His mother- In this story his home represents hell
and his mom represent the devil .Dave describes
his mother as a woman with no soul. The fact that
she just mistreated Dave and not his brothers
makes things even worse. How can she have the
heart to hurt her own child that she brought to life
like that. She tortures him so badly she brings him
closer and closer to death every day. However,
Dave has the courage to fight against her and not
let her win. Her mother can be described as the
devil because she herself quotes, If you dont
finish on time Im going to kill you (85). This quote
shows how his mother is so crazy. She threatens to
kill this little boy just because he does not finish his
chores on time. She is a crazy crazy woman.
Time-Time represents victory. There were times
when Dave was getting punished that he would stall
his punishment he would do things to make is mom
stop torturing him and he knew after a certain time
of stalling the punishment the mom would not
punish him and just leave him, so when he had the
chance to stall her and waste time he would win
and not get punished.