However, I always kept my guard up and tensed my entire body if I thought she might come my way. (Pelzer, 1993)
Annotation
Here the child implies that he would always be alert and expect anything. This is due to the bad treatment that he had been accustomed.
In life, we usually have situations that make us afraid and hence taking caution and being prepared for the worst. There is usually nothing we can do about them yet we just have to take some measures to ensure we are on the defensive,
As June turned to early July, my morale dwindled. (Pelzer, 1993)
Annotation
The child lost hope, there was nothing good coming out of the situations and was hence giving it up for fate.
Food was little more than a fantasy. I rarely received even leftover breakfast, no matter how hard I worked, and I was never fed lunch. (Pelzer, 1993)
Annotation
The food was barely enough to sustain the child. It was unimaginable that such food could be given to him and count it as if he had eaten.
As for dinner, I averaged about one evening meal every three days. (Pelzer, 1993)
Annotation
Supper for the child is not something that he expected. He was in fact lucky for him to have an evening meal.
One particular July day began like any other mundane day, in my now slave like existence. (Pelzer, 1993)
Annotation
The child had given up to fate and was no longer living as a normal child but as a slave.
I had not eaten in three days. (Pelzer, 1993)
Annotation
Emphasizing on the fact that he was leaving more as a slave than a normal child, he says that he had not eaten for three days. This is something that cannot just happen to a normal worker leave alone a child.
Because school was out for the summer, my options for finding food vanished. (Pelzer, 1993)
Annotation
The situation for the child was worse during the holidays; this is because he could not get food anywhere else. When in school, he had hopes of getting food even from his friends.
As always during dinner, I sat at the bottom of the stairs with my buttocks on top of my hands, listening to the sound of “the family” eating. (Pelzer, 1993)
Annotation
Even though the child was part of the family, the treatment he received from them did not qualify him to be part of them. That is why he remained segregated even as the rest had a good time at the dinner table.
Mother now demanded that I sit on my hands with my head thrust backward, in a “prisoner of war” position. (Pelzer, 1993)
Annotation
The desperate situation that the child is in and the kind of treatment he receives from his family not only makes him a slave but also a prisoner of war. he lacks all forms of freedom such as expression, basic needs and the likes.
I let my head fall forward, half dreaming that I was one them – a member of “the family”. I must have fallen asleep because I was suddenly awakened by Mother’s snarling voice, (Pelzer, 1993)
Annotation
It was always easy to identify the voice of the mother as it was loud and dictatorial. It always made the child to wake from any deepest sleep.
“Get up here! Move your ass!” she yelled. (Pelzer, 1993)
Annotation
The mother was never happy when the child seemed to be at ease. She would always yell at him and disrupt his comfort. She had to make sure that the child is not enjoying any moment of his life.
At the first syllable of her order I snapped my head level, stood up and sprinted up the stairs. I prayed that tonight I would get something, anything, to soothe my hunger.
I had begun clearing the dishes from the dining room table at feverish paces, when Mother called me into the kitchen. I bowed my head as she began to babble her time limits to me. “You have 20 minutes! One minute, one second more, and you go hungry again! Is that understood?” (Pelzer, 1993)
“Yes, ma’am.”
Annotation
The child had to be patient as the mother spoke hurtful and senseless things to him. Even though he did not like listening to them, he had no otherwise but to listen until she was through.
“Look at me when I’m talking to you!” she snapped. (Pelzer, 1993)
Annotation
The mother was not just satisfied at the fact that the child was listening and responding. She wanted him to look at her just to ensure she is driving the point home.
Obeying her command, I slowly raised my head. As my head came up, I saw Russell rocking back and forth on Mother’s left leg. The harsh tone of Mother’s voice didn’t seem to bother him. (Pelzer, 1993)
Annotation
The mother had managed to influence the child’s sibling that he cared less about the kind of treatment he was receiving from her. This bothered the child so much as he expected his sibling to sympathize with his situation.
He simply stared at me through a set of cold eyes. (Pelzer, 1993)
Annotation
The sibling looked at the child in a manner that suggested he could do nothing about his treatment. His sibling was comfortable with his life and hence cared less about what happen to the child.
Even though Russell was only four or five years old at the time, he had become Mother’s “Little Nazi”, (Pelzer, 1993)
Annotation
As young as the child’s sibling was, he was taking sides with his mother and in fact playing a big role in ensuring that the child remained a slave and a prisoner in their house.
watching my every move, making sure I didn’t steal any food. Sometime he would make up tales for Mothers so he could watch me receive punishment. (Pelzer, 1993)
Annotation
The child’s situation had become worse that even his sibling who would have defended him was making up tales just for the child to receive punishment from the mother. It seemed as if he enjoyed seeing the child being victimized.
It really was not Russell’s fault. I knew Mother had brainwashed him, but I had begun to turn cold towards him and hate him just the same. (Pelzer, 1993)
Annotation
Considering the innocence of his sibling, the child could not blame him; he instead blamed his mother for influencing and brainwashing his innocent mind. It is because of this that the child started hating his sibling just as he hated his mother.
“Do you hear me?” Mother yelled. “Look at me when I’m talking to you!” As I looked at her, Mother snatched a carving knife from the counter top and screamed, “If you don’t finish on time, I’m going to kill you!” (Pelzer, 1993)
Annotation
The mother was aimed at making trouble and would hence be displeased by anything that the child did no matter how good it was. He hated the child so much that he just wanted him dead. He was better dead if he did not keep up with the frequent harassment from the mother.
Exploration of the whole passage
The passage id a depiction of the cruelty that innocent children have to go through in the hands of the people that are to protect them. It would have been expected that an outsider would treat the child this way and only if they have committed some grievous mistake. We are usually mistaken to think that it is only prisoners and slaves that are mistreated and mishandled, there are however thousands of innocent children who are being mistreated by their guardians in the full watch of their close relatives. Such children may not have an avenue to dispute their case and hence suffer and even die in silence. They grow up knowing that the world is an evil place and that there is none that can be trusted. If we learn to treat others the same way we would expect them to treat us, it will save the society a lot of energy and resources dealing with issues that would have been avoided.
Works cited
Pelzer, David. A Child Called "It": One Child's Courage to Survive. London: HCI, 1993.
