It is estimated that one in five children is a victim of child abuse.Disturbing statistics, but unfortunately, very much a reality.
Dave Pelzer tells the story of his childhood. It is a graphic and moving narrative of his struggle for survival in a house with an alcoholic and abusive mother. As a child Dave an exuberant and lively little boy is considered in need of ’’disciplining’’ by his mother. She devises various ways to punish her ’’bad’’ son . What starts out with sending him to the corner or to bed without dinner, soon graduates to a level of abuse , which is today ranked as the third worst case of child abuse on record in the state of california.Dave is made to do all the house hold chores, is emotionally and physically starved, and is relegated to life in the garage, which becomes his world until the next ordeal his mother has thought up for him ( her favourite game , described by Pelzer as the ’’gas chamber treatment’’ was to lock him in a bathroom with a bucket of ammonia and clorox). She doesnt even call him by his name any more. he is simply refered to as - ’’it’’ . Indifferent siblings and a sympathetic but cowardly father, do nothing to alleviate his condition. Especially shocking was the incident when his mother while threatening him with a knife accidently stabs him deeply. Bleeding he drags himself to his father who looks up from his paper and says, he better get back to his chores if he doesnt want to anger mother any more !!!
The book chronicles his life upto the age of twelve when he is finally rescued and placed in foster care thanks to the intervention of his school principal and teachers. It is the first in a series of three books , the later two, covering his teenage and adult years trace his search for a place in society, for an identity of his own. The book is startlingly graphic and cannot fail to move you. And it is reassuring to know that Dave did manage to go on to find success in life. But it does not offer any insights into what makes a parent behave so inhumanly towards a child, their own flesh and blood. Or why Dave was the only one ( he had four brothers) who had to bear the brunt of his mother’s sadism. It is however, a thought provoking narrative. It shows that life isnt as pretty as we would like to believe it is. For every Mr.Ziegler ( Dave’s teacher ) who opened an escape route for him, there are the indifferent neighbours who would rather not get ’involved’.