So far in the book A Child Called It, I have a lot of questions going through my mind. Why does David's mother only take her aggression out on David. It doesn't seem like she abuses any of her other children. You'd think maybe once she had the new babies she would begin to abuse them, but she doesn't. Instead she continues to only abuse David. Also, I'm confused how David's mother was the perfect mother and the Peltzer family seemed to have a wonderful life up until David was between 4 and 5 years old. Maybe you were right Meg, it could have been the drinking that turned her abusive. Maybe when she drank that is when she'd abuse him. However, I've seen drunk people before and I don't feel that just because you have a lot to drink you'd automatically abuse your children. Maybe she has some sort of sickness, like a mental illness. Whom.... I wonder if David will address these questions in later books of his. Well I'm off to bed now, but I will see you on Tuesday.
i had a lot of these same thoughts as i was reading it. i still think that sence she was always drunk she never knew what she was doing till after and then always had to make David tell everyone some kind of lie on school.
I had a connection between A Child Called it and Stockholm Syndrom. A few months back did you hear of that Jaycee Dugard, the girl who had been found after being kidnapped fifteen years before. She was about 10 when she was kidnapped while getting off the school bus. Her body was never found and authorities assumed she had been killed. However, this year, 18 years after she had been taken they found her and she was 28 years old and had two children of her own. Her captor, the man who had taken her lived with his wife. They kept Jaycee out in a shack in their backyard. The shack was awful. It was made out of old scrap material and tarps for a roof. The man would sextually assault the girl for all of those years, which is how she had the two children. The first child was born when she was only like 14 and then the other child of hers was born when she was like 17. Anyways, the part I was thinking about was how when they found this girl she had what they call Stockholm Syndrom, which is when victims of kidnapping begin to identify with their captors, the people who took them. They start to feel sympathy for their captors and they even Love them after awhile. I continued to wonder to myself why David in the book never tried to run away or ask for help from anyone. That is when I made this inference. I wonder if David in a sense had Stockholm Syndrom where he actually came to expect his mother to beat him and still loved her or thought was she was doing was somewhat right because that was all he had ever known. Just like Jaycee, I think David and she both experienced Stockholm Syndrom where they actually thought their situation was right and began to love their captors and for David, his mother. What do you think Meg? Have you ever heard of this syndrom before?
no i never have heard of it before but it does kinda sound like David could have had that. i think he never tryed to run away because like you said that is what he thought was right. He grew up knowing that if he didnt do something right when he was told that he was going to get beaten for it. that is all he knew so i think he did think that it was the right thing to do.
I just finished A Child Called It and will be starting the second book in the David Peltzer series. A question that is lingering in my mind at the end of the book is how David goes back and forth in his writing either angry at God for not saving him from his horrible childhood situation and thanking and praising God for keeping him alive. I noticed this struggle of "good God vs. bad God" throughout the book. One minute he'd be so upset with God and he would make horrible comments on how God never helped him (for example, when he was living downstairs and was bleeding to death from being stabbed by his mother) to when he was rescued and helped by the people in his old school where he said, "I knew God was watching over me all along." I guess this shows how children sometimes think, they can go back and forth with their thoughts and feelings. Why do you think David did this throughout the first book?
Heather
p.s. See you tomorrow around 5:30. (lesson 7 and 8) only two left to go after tomorrow! and a final assessment!
i think David did this throughout the book because he didnt understand why God couldnt help him out all the time. why could God only help him out half the time? if God couldnt help him sometimes to make him stay alive why couldnt God just stop all the abuse he was getting?
So far in the book A Child Called It, I have a lot of questions going through my mind. Why does David's mother only take her aggression out on David. It doesn't seem like she abuses any of her other children. You'd think maybe once she had the new babies she would begin to abuse them, but she doesn't. Instead she continues to only abuse David. Also, I'm confused how David's mother was the perfect mother and the Peltzer family seemed to have a wonderful life up until David was between 4 and 5 years old. Maybe you were right Meg, it could have been the drinking that turned her abusive. Maybe when she drank that is when she'd abuse him. However, I've seen drunk people before and I don't feel that just because you have a lot to drink you'd automatically abuse your children. Maybe she has some sort of sickness, like a mental illness. Whom.... I wonder if David will address these questions in later books of his. Well I'm off to bed now, but I will see you on Tuesday.
ReplyDeleteHeather
i had a lot of these same thoughts as i was reading it. i still think that sence she was always drunk she never knew what she was doing till after and then always had to make David tell everyone some kind of lie on school.
ReplyDeleteMeg,
ReplyDeleteI had a connection between A Child Called it and Stockholm Syndrom. A few months back did you hear of that Jaycee Dugard, the girl who had been found after being kidnapped fifteen years before. She was about 10 when she was kidnapped while getting off the school bus. Her body was never found and authorities assumed she had been killed. However, this year, 18 years after she had been taken they found her and she was 28 years old and had two children of her own. Her captor, the man who had taken her lived with his wife. They kept Jaycee out in a shack in their backyard. The shack was awful. It was made out of old scrap material and tarps for a roof. The man would sextually assault the girl for all of those years, which is how she had the two children. The first child was born when she was only like 14 and then the other child of hers was born when she was like 17. Anyways, the part I was thinking about was how when they found this girl she had what they call Stockholm Syndrom, which is when victims of kidnapping begin to identify with their captors, the people who took them. They start to feel sympathy for their captors and they even Love them after awhile. I continued to wonder to myself why David in the book never tried to run away or ask for help from anyone. That is when I made this inference. I wonder if David in a sense had Stockholm Syndrom where he actually came to expect his mother to beat him and still loved her or thought was she was doing was somewhat right because that was all he had ever known. Just like Jaycee, I think David and she both experienced Stockholm Syndrom where they actually thought their situation was right and began to love their captors and for David, his mother. What do you think Meg? Have you ever heard of this syndrom before?
no i never have heard of it before but it does kinda sound like David could have had that. i think he never tryed to run away because like you said that is what he thought was right. He grew up knowing that if he didnt do something right when he was told that he was going to get beaten for it. that is all he knew so i think he did think that it was the right thing to do.
ReplyDeleteI just finished A Child Called It and will be starting the second book in the David Peltzer series. A question that is lingering in my mind at the end of the book is how David goes back and forth in his writing either angry at God for not saving him from his horrible childhood situation and thanking and praising God for keeping him alive. I noticed this struggle of "good God vs. bad God" throughout the book. One minute he'd be so upset with God and he would make horrible comments on how God never helped him (for example, when he was living downstairs and was bleeding to death from being stabbed by his mother) to when he was rescued and helped by the people in his old school where he said, "I knew God was watching over me all along." I guess this shows how children sometimes think, they can go back and forth with their thoughts and feelings. Why do you think David did this throughout the first book?
ReplyDeleteHeather
p.s. See you tomorrow around 5:30. (lesson 7 and 8) only two left to go after tomorrow! and a final assessment!
i think David did this throughout the book because he didnt understand why God couldnt help him out all the time. why could God only help him out half the time? if God couldnt help him sometimes to make him stay alive why couldnt God just stop all the abuse he was getting?
ReplyDelete