PUSH from: Sapphire (A Novel)

In the novel Push, a totally different world of isolation, poverty and racism is presented in the most horrific yet realistic way by the author Sapphire. The story is about a young African American teenager named Precious Jones. She lives in Harlem with her mother while her father comes around from time to time to have sex with her. When she was three yeas old, her father started molesting and raping her. Later on, her mother beat and sexually molests her out of jealousy. Her father’s actions eventually lead to her having two children and AIDS. Aside from these problems, one of her children has Down Syndrome, she is obese, dyslexic and years behind in school.

Precious Jones is just one of the many suffering individuals whom the society has ignored and forgotten because they are black, poor and belonging in dysfunctional families. As shown in the novel, Precious, at a very young age was already a victim of her own father. Her mother, who should have been the one to protect her, did nothing. So at the age of three, she was already a rape victim. Socially, Precious is also an outcast. She is described as unattractive and she is obese. In her neighborhood and in school, she is the object of much taunting and teasing. She is often called stupid and she simply accepts this, which adds to her isolation. Except for being an object of ridicule, no one notices her. From the age of three she was already a rape victim but no one in her community noticed her and offered her any help. At school, she was held back when she was in second grade because she could not read. She also brought with her some of the effects of her abuse, such as peeing on herself. Instead of recognizing her dyslexia and noticing the signs of abuse, the school held her back for a year. When she had her child, again, she was held back for another year. And although she goes to school, she is illiterate. Here, the author showed how the educational system had failed her again and again.

Thus, the author presented us with a character who lives among us and yet lives in a totally different world. This person lives in this world where the majority of the people has not seen or visited. This is also the world which the society and the government have abandoned.

Poverty is the root cause of the problem of Precious. Had she been born in a more affluent environment, she would not be subjected to such abuse. Or even if she had been, since other girls from affluent families are, those around her would have seen the signs of her problems and would have saved her from years of abuse, sufferings, teenage pregnancy and AIDS. Her dyslexia would also have been detected and her education would not have suffered. However, as she was born in such a poverty ridden community, she became one of the “abandoned ones” by the society.

This only proves that the Moynihan study, which blamed the absence of the father as the cause of the problems of the African American families, is wrong. Poverty is the root cause of the problem for most African American families. And poverty is a cycle from generation to generation. Taking Precious as an example, by being born from parents who are poor, her parents are typically abusive. Had they been educated and have good jobs, they would spent their time more constructively and productively. By being poor, they are uneducated, powerless and helpless in terms of knowing how to live better. We see the same signs of helplessness in Precious at the beginning of the story. In real life situation, Precious will grow up being exactly like her parents. She is illiterate and does not know any better. The real individuals born from the same community and families are as powerless and helpless as Precious. These individuals are incapable of creating a better life for themselves and the cycle will just continue from one generation to the next. And unless the level of poverty is reduced in these communities, the children will grow up angry like their fathers and desperate like their mothers. And they will have children who will grow up exactly like themselves.