Object of the Study

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CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY

This chapter consists of three parts which give the readers more understanding about the study. The parts are the object of the study, the approach of the study and the method of the study. The subject matter of the study describes physical description of the novels and brief summary of what generally the novels talk about. The approach of the study presents the appropriate approach used in this study to analyze the novels. The method of the study describes the steps taken to analyze the work, starting with reading up the work to reporting the finding.

A. Object of the Study

This thesis studies the trilogy of David James Pelzers autobiography, A Child Called It, The Lost Boy and A Man Named Dave. The first volume of Daves autobiography entitled A Child Called It tells about Dave when he was 4 years old until 12 years old. This novel describes many kinds of abuse experienced by Dave. The novel was told from Dave’s point of view. This novel was written in 1995 and it consists of 169 pages which was divided into 7 parts. In the beginning of this novel, Dave told the readers about his happy life. Before Dave was 4 years old, he was a child who lived happily with his parents and two brothers. His father was a fireman and his mother was a housewife who was good at cooking. She always asked her children to go out and taught them many things. 28 Unfortunately, Dave’s mother behavior changed suddenly. His alcoholic mother started to abuse and beat him. Daves life began to change when his teacher at the school and the police took actions to help Dave to escape from his house. The second volume of Daves trilogy is The Lost Boy. It was written in 1997 and it consists of 340 pages. It told the story after he was rescued from his abusive mother by the police. Dave was taken to the foster care system until the age of 18. This novel presented his ability to adapt to the new environment around him as a foster child. It also told about the kindness of his foster parents and other people around him. Dave never stopped hoping and seeking for the love of a real family. Finally, he found the love of a family in the hand of his foster parents. A Man Named Dave is the last part of Daves trilogy which consists of 426 pages. This novel presented Dave’s adult life. The story told Daves struggles to earn money and to survive in the society. It also described how he tried to overcome his memories as an abused child. After a long time of struggle, in this novel, finally he was able to forget his past. He was able to love, to trust and to live as a man named Dave. Those three novels were published in Great Britain by the same publisher, Orion Media.

B. Approach of the Study