Push, a debut novel authored by the poet, Sapphire, is written from the viewpoint of an illiterate African-American girl, Precious Jones, whose life is traumatic. With broken English and many misspelled words throughout the novel, Precious refers to herself throughout the book as a “chile”, or child, but lives the life of a woman. She is sexually abused by her father starting at the age of three and later has a baby by him at the age of twelve. During her experiences of sexual abuse by her father, she is also verbally, mentally, physically and sexually abused by her mother, who claims that Precious has stolen her man. She is impregnated by her father again at the age of sixteen and kicked out of school as a result. After being prompted by her previous principal, Precious embarks on a journey of self-discovery, motherhood, education and hope.
It is stimulating and somewhat depressing to read the poor grammar of Precious. In addition, it is ironic that a troubled teen like Precious, who cannot read or write, can understand the teachings of Louis Farrakhan. Precious, who refers to her mother as “muver”, also determines that crack addicts “give the race a bad name”.
Precious has a baby diagnosed with Down syndrome, or “down sinder” as she refers to it. She tells the hospital nurse that the father of her baby was her own father. Instead of reporting this to authorities, the nurse considers her to be another promiscuous teenager who should not return to the hospital again. Precious leaves the hospital helpless, carrying her daughter and sister in one bundle. This can leave the reader wondering why Precious even bothered saying anything at all.
The irony of this book is unmistakable. While the main character is name “Precious”, she wonders if she is truly precious and if so, why others do not view her this way. If her own mother mistreats her, why should others treat her any differently? She finds that this is the case as she is teased and spit at by her peers. Precious has no friends and feels that she has no family, except her children born out of incest.
Push shows its readers that in today’s society, there is no perfect image of a woman. Precious, who desires to look like blue-eyed girls she sees in magazines, sees herself as too dark-skin, too fat and too ugly. However, today’s teenagers and women not only see “too fat”, but also too skinny, too light, with hair that is too short or too long, with clothes that are too tight or too loose, and on and on the list goes. Every female reader can relate to the feeling of poor self-esteem as displayed by Precious.
While the plot of Push may sound heart wrenching, it should be an eye-opener to the world. Precious’ mother knows about the incest occurring in her home, but does nothing to protect or defend her. The events of this novel may seem outrageous; however, it is common to find children who are abused living with parents who are in denial.
This novel is a must-read for people who have experienced any type of abuse or addiction. It closely resembles Toni Morrison’sThe Bluest Eye. While Push is a fiction novel, the story of Precious is nonfiction in the eyes of many children. I give this novel an A-.
