pages read: 1-41
Summary- This book describes the life of a boy named David who's abused mentally and emotionally by his mother, but he is eventually sent to a foster home. David's story takes place in Daly City, California during the 1970s. In the first pages are an introduction of David's life and what he has to go through everyday. He lives in the garage with no heat and all he eats are his family's leftovers. Sometimes David steals food but then he is forced to throw up everyday to prove that he didn't steal food. After so many years of being beat up for his mother's pleasure, David starts believing that he deserves to be treated like an animal. One day David's mother gets in argument with his father about the way she treats David. The mother tells David that he can just run away if he thinks he isn't being treated right. Eventually the police finds him and brings him back to his parents. Then finally on March 5, 1973 David's teachers and other staff memebers notified the police about his situation. He is taken to the county hospital to get all different types of examinations. His body is covered in bruises which surprised the nurse. At the end he is taken to a foster home owned by a nice lady called "Aunt Mary".
Quote- "As long as I could remember, I had always wiped my tears and retreated inside of my shell. This time I refused to wipe the tears away. I could feel the tears reach my lips,tasted the salt and let the tear dry on my skin as the rays from the sun baked throught the windshield. I wanted to remember that tear not as a tear of fear ,anger or sorrow, but as one of joy and freedom. I knew that from that moment on, everything in my life was new." (Pelzer 38) This quote is a good representation of David Pelzer's style because it shows that he likes to use symbols in his writing. In this quote the tear represents a new beginning for David.
Reaction- The author has a very direct way of writing. since the story is written from a first point of view. He uses metaphors and similers throughout the story, but he also uses symbols. For example, in the quote Dave Pelzer uses the tear as a symbol of happiness and and a new life. He makes it seem like I'm standing behind him and staring at everything he's been through. This is an important quotation to understand, because in a way it foreshadows what may happen in the next couple of chapter. For the first time David doesn't hide in his shell which shows that things are going to change. The quote also makes me think that he is done with the abuse since he is in a foster home and he is going to look for a new family. The tear also represents his new freedom and all the new things he is going to be free to do now that he is away from his mother.
-how had Dave hidden in a shell previously in the book?
ReplyDelete-avoid phrases such as "He makes it seem like I'm standing behind him," and give stronger analysis of the quotation
OH MY GOD i loveeee this book. I've read it about 3 times, although I think it would've been better to write blogs about the first book called A Child Called "It". It goes more in depth to how his mother treated him and explains a lot of the things that happen in the second book The Lost Boy
ReplyDelete