I’m doing my book report on the book child called it. Talking about the main character is difficult for two reasons, one is it describes all these horrible things within his own home and second just how much the sheer quantity of abuse is disturbingly chilling. David was a child who was born into a good family and was happy until one day his mother snapped. She started abusing him when his father was not home. This book was perhaps even more disturbing than my last book. My previous book was about the Vietnam War but that was grown men in war, this is a child in this book he didn’t choose to get abused. The abuse was terrible no food or having to regurgitate it to eat. Getting beaten brutal getting cut from knives or scissors getting burnt and chemical abuse?!! What bothers me the most is no body intervened I’m sure they saw the bruises cuts and burns. And saying it was an accident will surely point to something and that something is brutal merciless abuse. I think the worst wouldn’t be the scars on the outside it would be the constant fear of a parent. Parents are supposed to love their children not despise and hurt them. I can’t imagine having that fear of a parent. I respect my mom and love her but you’re not supposed to fear them. And that knowing feeling that she’s you’re mother and you are supposed to love them. In David’s case I honestly couldn’t, it’s unacceptable. The tragic part is abuse isn’t all that rare. I was born into a wonderful and kind family. We grill, love sports, go to church, get good grades and are well disciplined. I think it does make sense how the author turned out though. People say kids who are abused usually abuse kids of their own but that’s only in small abuse. Long term high intensity abuse usually makes them the opposite because they have scarring memories of it and say “God I don’t want to be like that.” That’s not to say abuse should be tolerated. There are many better ways of disciplining I assure you. Abuse is probably one of the worst things on earth and its good people are aware of it. The thing it comes down to though is telling someone or have them notice. It bugged me through the book how it never occurred to anyone that the terrible things this child went through. But I can say this book was good, disturbing and blunt, it has a powerful message of love at the end when it talks about his own son.
