Chapter 1, The End Summary and Analysis

Chapter one opens in 1973 in Daly City, California. A 12-year-old Dave Pelzer sits shivering on a cot without blankets in his mother's garage. Due to his cold and hunger, sleep eludes Pelzer. He remembers how, at age four, his typically loving Mommy turned into The Mother, a harsh, demanding woman who often became abusive as she drank. She directed much of her rage at Pelzer, beginning with a dislocated arm at four years old. Pelzer believed that the shock would motivate her to change, but she only slipped more deeply into the role of the Mother. She banishes him from the house and refuses proper food and clothing. The Mother refers to him only as It. In the following seven years, Pelzer suffers burns, stabbings and poisoning at the hands of his Mother.

At first, Pelzer visualizes...