Dave Pelzer Essay. Most inspiring guy.
Unfortunately, not many people who escape a violent childhood have enough strength to speak out and make a change. Dave Pelzer went through a brutal life; being tortured and neglected by his mother, and still had the courage to speak out about it in his series of autobiographies, along with many interviews. With a clever mindset, Dave was able to survive many potentially fatal beatings, and eventually escape. Dave’s strong and independent mind gave him stability when growing as an adult and making the decision to tell other’s his story. Dave Pelzer’s struggles didn’t just physically hurt him, but they psychologically made him an entirely different person. Dave stated, “To be yourself, you must be the best you can be”, and he really did embrace all the damage done to lead him to his full potential.
Without Dave Pelzer’s Bravery, the world may never have been able to read in depth about one of the worst cases of child abuse, through his autobiographies. When Dave was growing up, his mother put him inside of an oven, malnourished him, forced him to eat human feces, and poisoned him, along with many more disturbing beatings. Even after these brutal setbacks, Dave was able to overcome the embarrassment and share his experience, making many aware of ways to escape child abuse. Multiple failures to Dave’s attempt to escape never set him back. Although feeling like he could die, and experiencing extreme loneliness, Dave’s inner strength kept him holding on to his life, while reaching towards a plan of escape. His courage was spread to readers across the world that were made aware of what a human can do with their life, even after experiencing the most painful situations.
Dave Pelzer was a very intelligent and resourceful child. Dave used many methods in order to survive throughout his childhood. During intense beatings from his mother, Dave would manage to think of a clever ways to survive. When being locked in a bathroom breathing in toxic fumes, Dave sought out the clean air coming from the vent and survived the pain. Also, when Dave was being starved, and forced to throw up every day, he would steal food from school and local markets. This act was illegal, but it just proves the great lengths people must go through in order to survive. Dave stated in The Lost Boy, “You have to understand that in a person’s life there are a few precious moments in which decisions, choices that you make now, will affect you for the rest of your life.” By revealing to people the small intelligent actions he made changed his life, proved to people that even small decisions can help better themselves.
Although Dave was not an only child, he experienced extreme loneliness throughout his childhood experiences, and even into adulthood. Because Dave was always alone, he became a very independent individual. When receiving his beatings from his mother, his father and brother could not save him, so Dave learned to endure the beating and use personal tactics to survive. Also, when Dave had escaped his mother, and was put into foster care, he always was on his own and didn’t rely on anyone’s help in adjusting to foster care. When Dave wrote his books, he did it on his own, and traveled around the world to do interviews, without anyone by his side. Although having been extremely lonely throughout his life, it was turned around into independence and strength. By revealing to the world that he escaped extreme child abuse alone, and went on to write about it, people can now see that independence is one of the keys to success and becoming a better person.
In A Child Called It, Dave Pelzer states, “Even in its darkest passages, the heart is unconquerable. It is important that the body survives, but it is more meaningful that the human spirit prevails.” Dave takes everything bad that he has gone through and uses it to gain courage, mind, and independence. Dave truly shows the world that his painful childhood resulted in being the best person he could possibly be. The life of Dave Pelzer inspires millions of people to not only embrace the life they’re living, but become stronger from a bad experience.
Sources:
“Dave Pelzer Quotes.” . GoodReads Inc., n.d. Web. 6 Feb 2012. <http://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/1881.Dave_Pelzer>.
