A Child Called It- David Pelzer

Summary:
Six year old David got beaten until he was 11 years old. From warnings like yelling, to being forced to lie down on a hot stove.  From discipline to punishments. David's mother was once a caring, loving mother who cared for her children just like any other mom. David's dad was always away working. As a result of this, David's mother became addicted to alcohol and began beating David for being a "bad boy" even though he did nothing wrong. David got angry and started disobeying her. David later regretted being disobedient to his mom because the outcome was tragic. Since he was being disobedient, his mother decided she would stop feeding him. First 3 days without food, then later 10 ten days without food, to him just having to steal food from the stores and his school cafeteria. In the story it says that David would fall asleep fantasizing about food. Also from his peers lunches. One day his mother had a knife in one hand and David's baby brother, Russell, in the other. As she was yelling at David, she lost control and the knife went flying to David's chest. While he was there bleeding severely, his mom quickly went into action. She treated the wound with cloths. David wasn't shocked because he knew his mother wouldn't just let him bleed to death, no matter how evil she was.  The author says, "Mother was still on her knees wrapping a cloth around my lower chest."Weeks later David's mom started treating him like a normal child. At first he couldn't believe what was happening. As the days went by, things became clearer. The reason she had started acting all nice and sweet was because an agent from Child Services came to speak to David about his mother. Just as soon David said the wrong thing, his mother's smile faded. You can guess what happened after the agent left. David was called down into the nurses office and was instructed to take off his clothes so they can inspect his bruises. Once the nurse saw the beating scars, she called the police officer into the office. He then inspected his body, instructed him to put his clothes back on. The police officer called David's mother and told her she had just lost custody of David then hung up the phone. The text says, "Mrs. Pelzer, this is Officer Smith from the Daly City Police Department. Your son David will not be coming home today. He will be in the custody of the San Mateo Juvenile Department. If you have any questions, you call them." David and the cop took the police car and went to the orphanage where David would live freely until he was adopted.


Character Analysis: David is a sweet, loving little boy. Just as soon as his mother stops feeding him of course. He's not so sweet. In the text it says that David would take up weeks of planning on how to steal food from the stores and from lunch boxes in the classroom. He was very obedient to his teachers and would respect his classmates. In the story it says that David would get along with his teacher and his peers. He would play very well with the kids at recess time when he wouldn't be planning on stealing food.