Catherine Pelzer: She is David´s mother. She treated David like any other child until he was four years old. Then, she became depressed and an alcoholic. David is now 12 and she is still abusing him. ¨You´ve made my life a living hell!¨ she sneered. ¨Now it´s time I showed you what hell is like (Pelzer 41)!¨ She takes all her depression and anger out on David. She doesn't abuse the other sons. The other siblings are suppose to tell the mom when David does something he's not suppose to. Like, grab scraps off their plates when he does the dishes.

Stephen Pelzer: He is David´s dad. He's not around a lot because he has work. He also doesn't know that the mom is abusing David. ¨Often after an argument, he would pack an overnight bag and set off in the middle of the night for work (Pelzer 51).¨

Setting: This took place on March 5, 1973. They live in Daly City, California.¨While father was at work, Mother would often yell and scream while forcing my brothers and me to search the entire house for something she had lost (Pelzer 30).¨ The mood of the story is that their family is very dark, because their mother doesn't do anything by herself. She has David do everything then and abuses him. She has the other brothers help but she treats them like a normal son and mother. The father is barely home and when he is the parents get in fights and the dad ends up leaving to sleep somewhere else, so the mother takes her anger out of David.

Exposition: David, his mother, and brothers all live in a house with their father who is barely home because of work. The mother is an alcoholic and suffers from depression. She hates David ever since he was four years old and abuses him and makes him do all the chores in the house everyday. She treats him like a slave. David sleeps in the cold garage and doesn´t get clean clothes. He sometimes gets scraps of food and water.

Rising Action: At school, David´s math teacher, Mr. Ziegler, and Mr. Hansen, who is a police officer, want to call David´s mom because they notice slash-like marks on David´s face and bruises on his body. David begged them not to call her, because he knew she would beat him up when they got home. The teachers at school know the truth about David´s mother. The officer calls his mother and tells her that David won´t be coming home tonight.

Climax: David´s mother noticed that David wasn't cleaning very well so she took a knife and stabbed him. David passes out. He woke up with the wound all wrapped up but it still hurt very bad and his mother told him that he had to clean. A shirt, which was used to wrap up the wound was all full of blood and the wound was all full of puss. He could barely do anything.

Falling Action: David is tired of listening to his mother and getting no food. So, he starts to steal food from his school. His mother finds out and beats him. The kids at school find out and bully him. His brother, started to bully him too. He gets put into a new school.

Resolution: The nurse at his other school helps him and fixes his wounds. David begins to trust her. David´s father is leaving his mother so he will never get a free day of not getting abused when his father's home. ¨She glanced back to me and sneered, you are all mine now (Pelzer 152).¨ The mother doesn't have to worry about when the father will be home, because he´s leaving her. She can abuse David whenever she wants.