Critique of Dave Pelzer's Autobiography, "The Lost Boy" Essay example

David's mother got worse and she began to think of new ways to torture David. David was one of a few brothers, but only he was targeted. The other brothers pretended he wasn't even there. There was only one person in the family that still loved David was his father. David’s father would fight for David and would protect him from the mother. But, he would always lose. Whenever David's father went to work, David would get beat. Dave became the scapegoat for his mother's mistakes. David became a slave of the house and did all the chores. If he did not finish his chores with an unreasonable time, he did not receive dinner. David was starved for three days at a time. Once, David got stabbed by his mother for not completing her dishes. Whenever David came back from school his mother forced him to throw up to see if he got any food at school. This happened every

The Lost Boy, written by Dave Pelzer is a heartwarming story of a young nine-year-old boy, David, who has family issues and is constantly being abused by his mother. Dave Pelzer is a New York Times Bestseller and a #1 International Bestseller. He has written other books such as A Child Called “It”, My Story, and A Man Named Dave, etc. This is my first story read by this author however, I will read more of his work in the near future. The genre of this book I would say is self-help, psychology and inspirational because it sends out such a strong statement of what this young boy and probably many other children are dealing with, in other words, it helps raise awareness. I myself did not imagine to be reading this type of book since I’m more

David’s mother wanted to leave Montana for several reasons; she wanted David’s father to be fully himself and not do his job just because his father told him to, and for David; she feared for his soul, and his values and

As a child Dave Pelzer was brutally beaten and starved by his emotionally unstable, alcoholic mother; a mother who played tortuous, unpredictable games that left one of her sons nearly dead. She no longer considered him a son, but a slave; no longer a boy, but an 'it'. His bed was an old army cot in the basement, his clothes were torn and smelly, and when he was allowed the luxury of food it was scraps from the dogs' bowl. The outside world knew nothing of the nightmare played out behind closed doors. Dave dreamed of finding a family to love him and call him their son. It took years of struggle, deprivation and despair to find his dreams and make something of himself. A Child Called 'It' covers the early years of

is a fight just to survive for the next day . As a child David is taught a very harsh way of

Harley who is fifteen lives with his grandmother since his mother is currently in prison, he also smokes cigarettes and has a bad anger management problems also making it difficult for him to stay in school. All three of these adolescents struggles with isolation, broken families, and a lack of opportunity, creating the ideal picture of growing up poor in America.

David spends the first two chapters eavesdropping into the conversations of his mother and father. This way of finding information in itself is very juvenile but is the only way. Because of the eavesdropping, the information David hears is interfered by his childish ways for example “part of me said to leave, get away, run now before it’s too late before you hear something you can’t unhear.” This quote displays David’s naïve thinking. The naivety of David is also shown though his feeling towards his Uncle Frank, he sees Frank as the charming, town doctor and loving uncle. In David’s eyes, Frank can do no wrong, and when he does, he along with his father does not believe the allegations, “why are you telling me this” “are you telling me this because I’m Frank’s brother? Because I’m your husband? Because I’m Maries employer? He paused “or because I’m the

Everything David did that was courageous. Most importantly, he survived the Nazi’s horrible control, showing his mother had influenced him. Even though David had a difficult childhood, David’s mother helped him a great

David has seen two teachers that have been exposed to the teens so far and they are dead. Life has gotten worse in that area now they have food drops that come from the soldiers from a helicopter, the people started forming groups to get more supplies the groups would be the nerds, jokes, sluts, freaks, and the pretty ones also there are the loners such as David which don't fit in a group or have a group. David starts doing others laundry to get more supplies for him and his brother for them to survive. David was outside trading when he sees a girl named lucy who was the girl getting attacked at the booth, David saved lucy from being raped and attacked Brad which stopped it and saved her. When David punched Brad it knocked him to the ground and Brad fell and hit his head on the concrete which killed Brad.

At the age of 5 years old, not only did he began to take showers with his father, but when they went to the beach club, his mother bathed him in the shower in the presence of other naked women. By the age of 6 years old, David noticed the power men had over women, “when a male entered the women’s side of the bathhouse, all the women shrieked”. (Gale Biography). At the age of 7 and 8 years old, he experienced a series of head accidents. First, he was hit by a car and suffered head injuries. A few months later he ran into a wall and again suffered head injuries. Then he was hit in the head with a pipe and received a four inch gash in the forehead. Believing his natural mother died while giving birth to him was the source of intense guilt, and anger inside David. His size and appearance did not help matters. He was larger than most kids his age and not particularly attractive, which he was teased by his classmates. His parents were not social people, and David followed in that path, developing a reputation for being a loner. At the age of 14 years old David became very depressed after his adoptive mother Pearl, died from breast cancer. He viewed his mother’s death as a monster plot designed to destroy him. (Gale Biography). He began to fail in school and began an infatuation with petty larceny and pyromania. He sets fires,

A Child Called It, is an astonishingly horrific true story of “one child’s courage to survive”. Once said “Such a story cannot fail to move.” this is exactly how I felt about this book. Dave Pelzer the author and protagonist of A Child Called It tells the story of his life as one of the worst seen cases of child abuse in the state of California. Dave’s mental strength and resilience is what truly drives the theme of the story and the physical and mental abuse that he had to endure.

" A foster home with loving, caring people would help Pony's behavior and it would help him wise life decisions. Pony Boy Curtis will go to a foster home to help him have a better life in a better home, he will be around good influences, and he could go to a new school to meet new people. One reason why Pony will be better in a foster home is because he would have an opportunity to be around better people who influence him to stop bad habits. Pony smokes a lot, and it is unhealthy for his fourteen year-old body.

The child welfare assessment is based on Dave Pelzer, his family and the experience he went through. All of the information for this study can be found in the book The Lost Boy (Pelzer, 1997) by Dave Pelzer. This assessment includes Dave’s family problems, the system, Dave’s problems, environmental factors and types of interventions and solutions that may have been beneficial for Dave and his family.

his father and dead mother. David's father has an idealized vision of his son as

Thrown into the foster care system at eight years old, Kyle was passed around from home to home, never finding the “perfect fit” or even a place where he belonged. In addition to the constant moving and resettling, Kyle battled with a physiological impact left by his abusive father. Even though Kyle’s father was violent and presumably mentally ill, Kyle has high hopes for his father’s return. However, his new foster parents prepared Kyle to face his father and provided him with a temporary home. This home becomes permanent after he realizes the better life he can have and the limitations his father will bring.