{"id":18849,"date":"2020-11-17T00:52:00","date_gmt":"2020-11-17T04:52:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=18849"},"modified":"2020-11-29T09:42:51","modified_gmt":"2020-11-29T13:42:51","slug":"why-did-dave-pelzers-mother-abuse-him","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/why-did-dave-pelzers-mother-abuse-him\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Did Dave Pelzer’s Mother Abuse Him?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Why did Dave Pelzer’s mother<\/a> abuse him? What was wrong with her?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you’re wondering, “why did Dave Pelzer’s mother abuse him?”, it’s hard to know. Dave doesn’t speculate in A Child Called “It”<\/em> but does note it wasn’t always that way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read more to try to answer the question: “why did Dave Pelzer’s mother abuse him?”<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Was Mother Always Abusive?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

David\u2019s earliest childhood memories are happy ones.<\/strong> He looks up to his fireman father, and he loves his warm, caring mother who goes to great lengths to create memorable and magical experiences for David and his two brothers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those early years are filled with day trips to San Francisco, cherished family vacations, and memorable holiday traditions. But amidst it all, there are a few hints of Mother\u2019s odd behaviors.<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, one day Mother seems unlike herself and claims to be sick, but after dinner she manically paints the garage steps and tacks on rubber mats before the paint has dried, making a mess of the wet paint. When David asks her why she didn\u2019t wait until the paint dried, Mother simply says that she wanted to surprise his father. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since the book is written from David\u2019s childhood perspective, he doesn\u2019t question or analyze details like this with an adult\u2019s insight. Rather, he accepts them as a child would. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Epilogue<\/strong>: Why Did Dave Pelzer’s Mother Abuse Him?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

This is the only part of the book that offers David\u2019s retrospective as an adult, as opposed to his childhood perspective. But he never answers why it happened, only how it made him feel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

David reflects on how helpless he felt during the abuse and how endless it seemed\u2014until one day it abruptly ended when he was taken from Mother\u2019s custody. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

David attributes his survival to the fact that he took control of himself and his circumstances any way he could. <\/strong>He also credits his horrific experiences for shaping him in several ways:<\/p>\n\n\n\n