Dave notes the things about him as a child that may have influenced the way she treated him, including his loud voice and his propensity to get caught during mischief. His mother's own behavior changed rapidly; when his father was away all day at work, she would lie on the couch in her bathroom and watch television, only getting up to go to the bathroom. She started to yell at them, losing her nurturing voice. Dave was able to determine what kind of day he would have based on how she was dressed–when she was put together and wearing makeup, that would be a good day.
his mother starved him for ten consecutive days. At long last, she placed a plate of leftovers in front of him and told him he had two minutes to eat—but as soon as he started eating it, she pulled it away from him and threw it out. ----------his mother played another cruel game with him. She put a bucket of ammonia and Clorox in the bathroom with him and shut the door.--------mother made him take a job mowing lawns, which was not successful; instead, he ended up punished because one client felt bad for him and gave him a bag of lunch. His mother made him sit on rocks in the backyard while she took "her sons" to the zoo (pg. 65), and then had him lie in a freezing cold bathtub with his face submerged in the water so he could not breathe.
Depending on the way she dressed and the way she was acting.
The mirror treatment was when david had his face smashed into the class and then he had to sit there staring at it saying I am a "Bad Boy"
because his mother was trying to tell father that their son was acting up and being bad.
David followed his father around because David felt like he was his protector. At one point he says his father was like superman to him.
mother was hitting him and lost her balance and pulled the boy's arm out of socket. ------ On another occasion she had burned his arm on the stove.
The story was that david fell out of his bed.-------- ON the second occasion she had said he was playing with fire in the garage.
while the rest of the family goes camping he goes to ant josies and he ran away to be with his family.
Stan treated David as a Friend at school but at home he began to be treated like a nobody.
He was "Playing in the grass". He stalled for time to save himself from the stove.
He stalled for time and he relized that he will never give her the satisfaction of hearing him beg her to stop beating him.
VOCABULARY.
Tremors: involuntary shaking of the body or limbs, as from disease, fear, weakness, or excitement; a fit of trembling.
Feverishly: pertaining to, of the nature of, or resembling fever
Incompetent: not competent; lacking qualification or ability; incapable
Haven: any place of shelter and safety; refuge; asylum
Hollow: an empty space within anything; a hole, depression, or cavity.
Badgered: to harass or urge persistently; pester; nag
Surge: a strong, swelling, wavelike volume or body of something
Tactic: a plan, procedure, or expedient for promoting a desired end or result.
It basically means that someone controls many feelings about another, where it leads to them not knowing how they feel, or that they have "mixed feelings"
