Push (Novel) by Sapphire
The novel is set in New York in 1987. The narrator, Claireece Precious Jones, is an obese and illiterate 16 year old. The victim of physical and sexual abuse at the hands of both of her parents, Precious is pregnant with her second child, both pregnancies the result of repeatedly being raped by her father. Her mother, an obese woman who hasn't left the house in several years, supports the two of them with welfare money and food stamps and expects Precious to do all of the cooking and cleaning. She receives extra money for Precious’ first child, "Lil' Mongo," who has Down Syndrome. The child lives with Precious’ grandmother, Tootsie. Although Precious' father is married to another woman and has another family, he lived with Precious and her mother until the birth of Lil Mongo, at which point he disappeared for about three or four years, returning to rape Precious and impregnate her once more.
As the novel begins, Precious is summoned to the guidance counselor's office. The school has decided to suspend her because she is pregnant. Precious is furious, but the counselor later visits Precious’ home and convinces her to enter an alternative school called Each One Teach One. Despite her mother's insistence that she apply for welfare, Precious enrolls in the school. She meets her teacher, Blue Rain, and fellow students: Rhonda, Jermaine, Rita, Jo Ann, and Consuelo. All of the girls come from troubled backgrounds. Ms. Rain's class is a pre- G.E.D. class for young women who are below an 8th grade level in reading and writing and therefore are not ready for the high school level courses. They start off by learning the basics of phonics and vocabulary building. Despite their academic deficits, Ms. Rain strives to ignite a passion in her students for literature and writing. She believes that the only way to learn to write is to write every day. Each girl is required to keep a journal. Ms. Rain reads their entries and provides feedback and advice. By the time the novel ends, the women have created an anthology of autobiographical short stories. The works of Audre Lorde, Alice Walker and Langston Hughes are inspirational for the students, especially for Precious who contributes poems to the anthology.
While in the hospital for the birth of her second child, Precious reveals to a social worker that her first child is living with her grandmother. The confession leads to Precious' mother getting her welfare taken away and when Precious returns home with her newborn baby, her mother is enraged and chases her out of the house. Homeless and alone, she turns to Ms. Rain who uses all of her resources to get Precious into a halfway house with childcare. Her new environment provides her with the stability and support to continue with school. Precious' literacy skills continually improve as evidenced by her journal entries, which become gradually more coherent and are peppered with imagery and similes.
With her attitude changing and her confidence growing, Precious finds herself thinking more about having a boyfriend, a real relationship with someone near her age, someone she's truly attracted to. Her only sexual experience thus far has been the rape and sexual abuse by her father and, to a lesser extent, her mother. Although she tries to move beyond the trauma of her childhood and distance herself from her parents, an unwelcome visit from Precious' mother reveals that her father has died from AIDS. Testing verifies that Precious is HIV positive, but her son is not. Her classmate Rita encourages Precious to join an incest support group, as well as an HIV positive group. The meetings provide source of support and friendship for Precious as well as the revelation that her color and socio-economic background weren't necessarily the cause of her abuse. Women of all ages and backgrounds attend the meetings. The author doesn't conclude with a clear prediction for Precious' fate. We aren't told how long she has to live. We know she is focused on her goals. As readers, we are left only with Precious' dreams for the future; her desire to increase her test scores to a high school level and her dream of going to college and getting a job so she can independently care for her son.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Push_(novel)#Plot_summary
The novel is set in New York in 1987. The narrator, Claireece Precious Jones, is an obese and illiterate 16 year old. The victim of physical and sexual abuse at the hands of both of her parents, Precious is pregnant with her second child, both pregnancies the result of repeatedly being raped by her father. Her mother, an obese woman who hasn't left the house in several years, supports the two of them with welfare money and food stamps and expects Precious to do all of the cooking and cleaning. She receives extra money for Precious’ first child, "Lil' Mongo," who has Down Syndrome. The child lives with Precious’ grandmother, Tootsie. Although Precious' father is married to another woman and has another family, he lived with Precious and her mother until the birth of Lil Mongo, at which point he disappeared for about three or four years, returning to rape Precious and impregnate her once more.
As the novel begins, Precious is summoned to the guidance counselor's office. The school has decided to suspend her because she is pregnant. Precious is furious, but the counselor later visits Precious’ home and convinces her to enter an alternative school called Each One Teach One. Despite her mother's insistence that she apply for welfare, Precious enrolls in the school. She meets her teacher, Blue Rain, and fellow students: Rhonda, Jermaine, Rita, Jo Ann, and Consuelo. All of the girls come from troubled backgrounds. Ms. Rain's class is a pre- G.E.D. class for young women who are below an 8th grade level in reading and writing and therefore are not ready for the high school level courses. They start off by learning the basics of phonics and vocabulary building. Despite their academic deficits, Ms. Rain strives to ignite a passion in her students for literature and writing. She believes that the only way to learn to write is to write every day. Each girl is required to keep a journal. Ms. Rain reads their entries and provides feedback and advice. By the time the novel ends, the women have created an anthology of autobiographical short stories. The works of Audre Lorde, Alice Walker and Langston Hughes are inspirational for the students, especially for Precious who contributes poems to the anthology.
While in the hospital for the birth of her second child, Precious reveals to a social worker that her first child is living with her grandmother. The confession leads to Precious' mother getting her welfare taken away and when Precious returns home with her newborn baby, her mother is enraged and chases her out of the house. Homeless and alone, she turns to Ms. Rain who uses all of her resources to get Precious into a halfway house with childcare. Her new environment provides her with the stability and support to continue with school. Precious' literacy skills continually improve as evidenced by her journal entries, which become gradually more coherent and are peppered with imagery and similes.
With her attitude changing and her confidence growing, Precious finds herself thinking more about having a boyfriend, a real relationship with someone near her age, someone she's truly attracted to. Her only sexual experience thus far has been the rape and sexual abuse by her father and, to a lesser extent, her mother. Although she tries to move beyond the trauma of her childhood and distance herself from her parents, an unwelcome visit from Precious' mother reveals that her father has died from AIDS. Testing verifies that Precious is HIV positive, but her son is not. Her classmate Rita encourages Precious to join an incest support group, as well as an HIV positive group. The meetings provide source of support and friendship for Precious as well as the revelation that her color and socio-economic background weren't necessarily the cause of her abuse. Women of all ages and backgrounds attend the meetings. The author doesn't conclude with a clear prediction for Precious' fate. We aren't told how long she has to live. We know she is focused on her goals. As readers, we are left only with Precious' dreams for the future; her desire to increase her test scores to a high school level and her dream of going to college and getting a job so she can independently care for her son.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Push_(novel)#Plot_summary
No comments:
Post a Comment