An Analysis of A Child Called It by Dave Pelzer

A Child Called “It”, by Dave Pelzer, is a first person narrative of a child’s struggle through a traumatic abused childhood. The book begins with Dave telling us about his last day at his Mother’s house before he was taken away by law enforcement. At first I could not understand why he had started at the end of his tale, but after reading the entire book it was clear to me that it was easier to read it knowing there indeed was a light at the end of the dark tunnel. This horrific account of extreme abuse leaves us with a great number of questions which unfortunately we do not have answers for. It tells us what happened to this little boy and that miraculously he was able to survive and live to see the day he left this hole which was his home, however, it does not tell us why or even give us a good amount of background with which to speculate the why to this abuse. Catherine Roerva Pelzer, Dave’s mom, is portrayed as Mom, Mother, and the Bitch. Dave tells us about Mom right after his account of “The Rescue.” He tells us of “The Good Times” when Mom and Father were happy, when they were all a normal family. Mom was a devoted nurturer, housewife and teacher. She wore dresses, her face was always made up, and she was always cooking scrumptious meals for the family. Mom would take outings with her sons whenever father wasn’t around, and vacations with the whole family, the most memorable being their trips to the Russian River. Mom was sweet and loving; she acknowledged achievements, showed pride and physical as well as emotional affection around her son. Mother is introduced to us from “The Rescue” and we continue to learn of her tortures throughout the book. Mother is a woman who is angry, specially towards Dave, specially when he is in need of punishment. Mother does not take care of her appearance anymore, she walks around in robes all day, watches tv, never bothers to put on make up, and often smells of alcohol. She is vindictive, cruel and abusive, always