Push by Sapphire
Push
by Sapphire
Vintage , 1997
ISBN: 978-0679766759
129 p.p.
In the novel, Push, Sapphire captures the suffering of Claireece Precious Jones who has been abused by her parents since a young age. Precious is a 16-year-old impoverished, illiterate, uncared for, despised, abused, obese, neglected, friendless, teenage black girl living in 1980s Harlem. The novel is written in first person and written just as Precious speaks, therefore truly allowing readers to get a sense of who she is. It makes it difficult at times to read because of the countless spelling and grammar mistakes that are used to depict how Precious would write or speak since she spells words out phonetically. The language used is articulately placed on the page in such a way to make Precious a very vivid character. Despite her difficulties with language, the text portrays her emotions and motivations beautifully. The descriptions of the world around her are striking and allow readers to submerge themselves into this novel full force.
The main character's voice is so violently affecting that it enables readers to feel as if they are experiencing what Precious is going through. The details are extremely graphic and there is a lot of vulgarity, yet it is needed to grasp the story. It allows readers to bear witness to Precious’ traumatic events which are so raw and brutal that it is hard to read without looking back and making sure you read the sentence correctly. It can be hard to wrap your head around the tragic events in Precious’ life: raped by her father for the majority of her life, beginning when she was a toddler, and her mother knowing what was happening. Precious is further abused sexually by her mother, and furthermore by the social system in place. She then gives birth to her second child/sibling by her father. Precious’ mother is physically, verbally, and emotionally abusive towards her and she essentially becomes a slave to her mother's whims since they live in a welfare situation.
“I'm alive inside. A bird is my heart. Mama and Daddy is not win. I'm winning. I'm drinking hot chocolate in the Village wif girls--all kind who love me. How that is so I don't know. How Mama and Daddy know me sixteen years and hate me, how a stranger meet me and love me. Must be what they already had in they pocket.”
The novel can be a fast read at times because it keeps you eager to find out what happens to Precious, but due to emotional and moral sensitivities it can be slightly difficult to get through. It raises some excellent points worth thinking about regarding the state of humanity, welfare, schools, and community.
This novel brings social awareness to a lot of sensitive issues people oftentimes face alone. Sapphire published Push in the mid-90s but chose for it to be set in the late 80s in order to utilize the AIDS crisis—characterized as it was by a demonization of queer people, poor people, and people of color—as well as the infamous depiction of the "Welfare Queen.” In 2011, Sapphire published a semi-sequel, The Kid, following the life of Precious' son, Abdul, from ages nine to nineteen.
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Ramona Lofton, better known by her pen name Sapphire, was born in Fort Ord, California. She is an American author and performance poet. She took the name "Sapphire" because of its one-time cultural association with the image of a "belligerent black woman." She self-published the collection of poems Meditations on the Rainbow in 1987. Other poetic works by her include American Dreams and Black Wings & Blind Angels: Poems. Her first novel, Push, was unpublished until it was discovered by a literary agent and later turned into the film Precious. Sapphire published a semi-sequel to the novel in 2011 titled The Kid. Sapphire currently lives in New York City.
