Virgin M ary as a fulfillment of t he Old Test ament ’s M essianic prophecy. In t his day, people w ill decorat e t heir house w it h pine t rees. The out side of
houses may be decorat ed w it h light s and somet imes w it h illuminat ed sleighs, snow men, and ot her Christ mas figures. Other t radit ional decorat ions
include bells, candles, candy canes, st ockings, w reat hs, and angels. The children believe t hat in Christ mast eve, Sant a w ill come. Sant a
Claus, also know n as Saint Nicholas, Fat her Christ mas and simply ‘Sant a’, is a figure w it h legendary and myt hical w ho, in many w est ern cult ures, brings
gift s t o t he homes of t he good children during t he lat e evening and overnight hours of Christ mas Eve, December 24. Sant a Claus is generally
depict ed as a port ly, joyous, w hit e-bearded man - somet imes w it h spect acles - w earing a red coat w it h w hit e collar and cuffs, w hit e-cuffed red
t rousers, and black leat her belt and boot s.Therefore, t hey w ill be happy w ait ing for Sant a’s arrival.
As Christ m as Day came nearer, my brot hers and I becam e m ore and m ore excit ed. ACCI: 18
5. Cultural Aspects
In t his aspect , t he w rit er w ill show t he w orld view of American societ y in t he lat e of t w ent iet h cent ury. The cult ural aspect is broken dow n int o
t hree: ment al fact s, social fact s, and physical fact s. M ent al fact s consist of
norms, w ay of life, and value-syst em. Social fact s include cust om and t radit ion. Physical fact s such as fashion, art hefact , and lit erat ure.
View ed from ment al fact s, t he w rit er breaks it int o t hree. First , t he societ y believed t hat people had t o mind t heir ow n bussiness. They t ook care
of t heir ow n house and ot her people had not a right t o int erfere. At t hat t ime, w hat in t he house should be closed. The m embers of t he family w ould
not t ell w hat happened in t he house or w hat problem t hey had faced.
“ I have no idea w hat happened back t hen. That ’s not m y affair. What happens in som eone’s house st ays in t heir house. It ’s no one else’s
business. I see no need t o open up Pandora’s box.” AM ND: 129
The second, it is st at ed t hat harshness in children at t hat t ime w as not cat egorized as an abuse but it w as an act t o discipline t hem. Everyone
might see t he harshness but t hey could not do anyt hing.
“ Anyw ay, anybody could see w hat she w as doing. Back t hen t here w as not hing w e could have done, or w ere allow ed t o do. Back t hen it w as
considered discipline, parent al right s, but w e had t o do som et hing. Any one of us could see w hat w as going on. It ’s somet hing you don’t forget . Ever.”
AM ND: 233
The people couldn’t help children w ho got bad t reat ment because
t here w eren’t a great Penal Codes t o prot ect kids. Penal Code is a st at ut e w hich list s and defines prohibit ed conduct s or crimes and t he punishment s
associat ed w it h each.
“ ... but back t hen in 1973 t hings w ere very different ; your mot her w as never brought up on a single charge. We couldn’t get her on assault , w illful harm
against a minor, failure t o provide, or, in m y est im at ion, at tem pt ed m urder. Underst and, t here w eren’t a great deal of PCs t o prot ect kids back t hen in
’73. Even now , as w e ent er t he 1980s, t here are a m ajorit y of folks w ho are
in t ot al denial or believe parent s are doing not hing m ore t han ‘disciplining’ t heir children. AM ND: 149
The t hird, t he societ y had also seen Fost er Child blindly. They looked dow n t o fost er children for not having parent s.
Ot her tim es I’d happily st at e, “ I’m a fost er child” I was proud t o be a m em ber of m y new fam ily. I began t o repeat t his saying until one day one of
t he older fost er children pulled m e aside at school, w arning m e not t o t ell anyone “ w hat” I w as because “ a lot of folks don’t like our kind.” TLB: 50
In social fact s, American used t o drink alcohol. People used t o keep t heir problems w it hout sharing and solving t hem. They alw ays ran aw ay
from t heir problems by drinking alcohol and t hey didn’t t ry t o solve t he problems. Therefore, drinking alcohol is a cust om and becomes t he habit of
American societ y.
“ I underst and. Don’t be t oo judgment al. Like I said, it w as a different era back t hen; for your parent s, and t heir parent s before t hem. What ever
problem s w e had w ere sw ept under t he rug. Fam ily skelet ons w ere kept locked in t he closet ...” AM ND: 114
American t radit ion t o celebrat e Holy Days is also reflect ed in t he book A Child Called it
. David’s family used t o celebrat e Thanksgiving, Christ mas, and Hallow een.
That year Thanksgiving dinner was a flop. In som e kind of gest ure of good fait h, M ot her allow ed m e t o eat at t he t able w it h t he fam ily ACCI: 87-88.
Thanksgiving is a holiday celebrat ed in t he Unit ed St at es on t he fourt h Thursday in November. It came before Christ mas. All members of t he family
usually eat t oget her w hen t hanksgiving held.
The day aft er Thanksgiving, M om w ould disappear t o t he basem ent , t hen bring up enorm ous boxes filled wit h Christm as decorat ions ACCI: 17.
Christ mas w as celebrat ed on December 25. It w as t he day w hen Jesus born. On Chrismas, people usually decorat e t heir houses w it h some
Christ mas decorat ions like light s.
Christ m as light s w ere draped around our bedroom w indow s. Every night I fell asleep w hile st aring at t he soft , colorful glow of t he Christ m as light s
ACCI: 17
There also w as Christ mas t ree w it h some decorat ions such as angel. It w as David’s family t radit ion t o be honored t o place angel at t he t op of t he
t ree. Fat her w ould help t he son up w it h his arms.
Our Christm as tree w as never ever an inch under eight feet, and it t ook t he w hole family hours t o decorat e it . Each year one of us w as honored by being
allow ed t o place t he angel at t he t op of t he t ree, w hile Fat her held us up in his st rong arm s ACCI: 18.
The t radit ion in playing Christ mas song is seemed in A Child Called it . David’s family played t he song by st ereo. The song w as Whit e Christ mas t hat
sang by Bing Crosby.
While she t old us st ories, Bing Crosby sang “ Whit e Christm as” on t he st ereo. ACCI: 18
Children w ould be happily w ait ing for Sant a’s arrival in t he night before Christ mas. They w ould get gift delivered by Sant a. David and his
siblings usually opened t he gift aft er dinner.
On Christm as Eve, after a special dinner and caroling, w e w ere allowed t o open one gift. Aft erw ards, w e w ere sent t o bed. I alw ays st rained m y ears as
I laid in bed, w aiting for t he sound of Sant a’s sleigh bells. But I alw ays fell asleep before I heard his reindeer land on t he roof ACCI: 18.
Hallow een is a t radit ion of celebrat ion t he night of Oct ober 31, and is mainly celebrat ed in t he Unit ed St at es. Hallow een symbol is carved pumpkin
w it h fright ening face called Jack-o-lant ern.
For our fam ily – during t hose good years – t he holidays st art ed w it h Hallow een. One Oct ober night , w hen t he huge harvest m oon w as in full
view , M om hurried t he t hree of us out of our house, t o gaze at t he “ Great Pum pkin” in t he sky ACCI: 17.
Hallow een is ident ical w it h t he devil, w it ches, ghost s goblins and creepy creat ures of West ern cult ure. David’s mother bought St an Hallow een
record t hat cont ained scary st ory.
I could hear t he sounds of St an’s Halloween record t hat M ot her had bought for him several years before. Ghost s and ghouls howled, and doors creaked
open. Aft er t he boys had carved t heir pum pkins, I could hear M ot her in her soot hing voice telling t hem a scary st ory ACCI: 70.
Physical fact appears in t he book t hat is lit erat ure. David ment ions in t he t hird book A M an Named Dave t hat he w rot e A Child Called it and The
Lost Boy .
In t he fall of 1992, w hile doing a series of fact checks for A Child Called “ It” , I cont act ed my element ary school t o discover t hat one of the t eachers w ho
had not ified t he aut horities, M r Ziegler, w as st ill t eaching. AM ND: 229-230
David t old about his first book A Child Called it when he checked for t he originalit y of t his book t o his t eacher at Element ary School. It w as
informed t hat A Child Called it had been w rit t en in 1992. A Child Called it is t he book t hat t alk about his experience in get t ing abuse based on t he child’s
life from ages 4 t o 12.
“ The Lost Boy, t oo?” Pat sy inquired, m y second book, w hich Jerry had about insist ed that I w rit e. AM ND: 250
The Lost Boy also ment ioned in A M an Named Dave. It was t old t hat
David w as t aken advant age by Lincoln. His books A Child Called it and The Lost Boy
w ere never published. They w eren’t in t he st ores because it w eren’t copyright ed.
6. Science and Technology Aspect
