Push (novel)
Encyclopedia
Push is the 1996 debut novel
of American author Sapphire
. Thirteen years after its release, it was made into an acclaimed film
that won two Academy Awards and was produced by Oprah Winfrey
and Tyler Perry
.
in 1987. The narrator, Clareece "Precious" Jones, is an obese and illiterate 16-year-old. Precious is pregnant with her second child, both pregnancies the result of repeated rape by her father. Her mother, Mary Lee Johnston, an obese woman who hasn't left the house in several years, supports both of them with welfare money and food stamps. She receives extra money for Precious' first child, Mongo, who has Down Syndrome
. The child lives with Mary's mother. Although Precious' father, Carl Kenwood Jones, is married to another woman and has another family, he lived with Precious and her mother until Mongo was born. After that, he disappeared for about three or four years, returning to rape Precious and get her pregnant once more. Mary, physically and verbally abusive, hates Precious because Carl would rather have sex with Precious than her.
As the novel begins, Precious is sent to the guidance counselor's office. The school has decided to send her to an alternative school 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, Ms. 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-GED
class for young women who are below an eighth-grade level in reading and writing and therefore are unprepared for high school-level courses. They start off by learning the basics of phonics and vocabulary building. Despite their academic and personal 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 called "LIFE STORIES – Our Class Book" appended to the book. The works of classic African-American writers like Audre Lorde
, Alice Walker
and Langston Hughes
are inspirational for the students. Precious is particularly moved by The Color Purple
.
While in the hospital for the birth of her second child, a boy she names Abdul Jamal Louis Jones, Precious tells a social worker that her first child is living with her grandmother. The confession leads to Precious' mother having her welfare taken away. When Precious returns home with her newborn baby, her mother is enraged and chases her out of the house. Homeless and alone, she first passes a night at the armory, then 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. The narrative prose, which is told from Precious' voice, continually improves in terms of grammar and spelling, and is even peppered with imagery and similes. Precious has taken up poetry. She's also eventually awarded the Mayor's office's literacy award for outstanding progress. This accomplishment boosts her spirits.
With her attitude changing and her confidence growing, Precious finds herself thinking about having a boyfriend, a real relationship with someone near her age, with someone who attracts her interest. 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 both her children are 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 book concludes with no specific fate outlined for Precious, with the author leaving her future undetermined.
in which Push is written. Some consider "the harrowing storyline [to be] exaggerated," saying that it doesn't seem realistic to "saddle one fictional character with so many problems straight from today's headlines" (Glenn). Others have stated that while the dialect
is problematic, Precious herself is believable because she "speaks in a darting stream of consciousness of her days in an unexpectedly evocative fashion" (Mahoney).
, a book reviewer for The New York Times claims that Precious' "voice conjures up [her] gritty unforgiving world."
Aero'Stal Journey As the book progresses and Precious learns to read and write there is a stark change in her voice, though the dialect remains the same.
Debut novel
A debut novel is the first novel an author publishes. Debut novels are the author's first opportunity to make an impact on the publishing industry, and thus the success or failure of a debut novel can affect the ability of the author to publish in the future...
of American author Sapphire
Sapphire (author)
Sapphire is an American author and performance poet.- Early life :Ramona Lofton was born in Fort Ord, California, one of four children of an Army couple who relocated within the United States and abroad. After a disagreement concerning where the family would settle, her parents separated, with...
. Thirteen years after its release, it was made into an acclaimed film
Precious (film)
Precious , is a 2009 American drama film directed by Lee Daniels. Precious is an adaptation by Geoffrey S. Fletcher of the 1996 novel Push by Sapphire. The film stars Gabourey Sidibe, Mo'Nique, and Paula Patton...
that won two Academy Awards and was produced by Oprah Winfrey
Oprah Winfrey
Oprah Winfrey is an American media proprietor, talk show host, actress, producer and philanthropist. Winfrey is best known for her self-titled, multi-award-winning talk show, which has become the highest-rated program of its kind in history and was nationally syndicated from 1986 to 2011...
and Tyler Perry
Tyler Perry
Tyler Perry is an American actor, director, playwright, entrepreneur, screenwriter, producer, author, and songwriter. Perry wrote and produced many stage plays during the 1990s and early 2000s. In 2005, he released his first film, Diary of a Mad Black Woman...
.
Plot summary
The novel is set in New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
in 1987. The narrator, Clareece "Precious" Jones, is an obese and illiterate 16-year-old. Precious is pregnant with her second child, both pregnancies the result of repeated rape by her father. Her mother, Mary Lee Johnston, an obese woman who hasn't left the house in several years, supports both of them with welfare money and food stamps. She receives extra money for Precious' first child, Mongo, who has Down Syndrome
Down syndrome
Down syndrome, or Down's syndrome, trisomy 21, is a chromosomal condition caused by the presence of all or part of an extra 21st chromosome. It is named after John Langdon Down, the British physician who described the syndrome in 1866. The condition was clinically described earlier in the 19th...
. The child lives with Mary's mother. Although Precious' father, Carl Kenwood Jones, is married to another woman and has another family, he lived with Precious and her mother until Mongo was born. After that, he disappeared for about three or four years, returning to rape Precious and get her pregnant once more. Mary, physically and verbally abusive, hates Precious because Carl would rather have sex with Precious than her.
As the novel begins, Precious is sent to the guidance counselor's office. The school has decided to send her to an alternative school 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, Ms. 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-GED
GED
General Educational Development tests are a group of five subject tests which, when passed, certify that the taker has American or Canadian high school-level academic skills...
class for young women who are below an eighth-grade level in reading and writing and therefore are unprepared for high school-level courses. They start off by learning the basics of phonics and vocabulary building. Despite their academic and personal 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 called "LIFE STORIES – Our Class Book" appended to the book. The works of classic African-American writers like Audre Lorde
Audre Lorde
Audre Lorde was a Caribbean-American writer, poet and activist.-Life:...
, Alice Walker
Alice Walker
Alice Malsenior Walker is an American author, poet, and activist. She has written both fiction and essays about race and gender...
and Langston Hughes
Langston Hughes
James Mercer Langston Hughes was an American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist. He was one of the earliest innovators of the then-new literary art form jazz poetry. Hughes is best known for his work during the Harlem Renaissance...
are inspirational for the students. Precious is particularly moved by The Color Purple
The Color Purple
The Color Purple is an acclaimed 1982 epistolary novel by American author Alice Walker. It received the 1983 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the National Book Award for Fiction...
.
While in the hospital for the birth of her second child, a boy she names Abdul Jamal Louis Jones, Precious tells a social worker that her first child is living with her grandmother. The confession leads to Precious' mother having her welfare taken away. When Precious returns home with her newborn baby, her mother is enraged and chases her out of the house. Homeless and alone, she first passes a night at the armory, then turns to Ms. Rain who uses all of her resources to get Precious into a halfway house
Halfway house
The purpose of a halfway house, also called a recovery house or sober house, is generally to allow people to begin the process of reintegration with society, while still providing monitoring and support; this is generally believed to reduce the risk of recidivism or relapse when compared to a...
with childcare. Her new environment provides her with the stability and support to continue with school. The narrative prose, which is told from Precious' voice, continually improves in terms of grammar and spelling, and is even peppered with imagery and similes. Precious has taken up poetry. She's also eventually awarded the Mayor's office's literacy award for outstanding progress. This accomplishment boosts her spirits.
With her attitude changing and her confidence growing, Precious finds herself thinking about having a boyfriend, a real relationship with someone near her age, with someone who attracts her interest. 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 both her children are 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 book concludes with no specific fate outlined for Precious, with the author leaving her future undetermined.
Style
Critics have gone in both directions as far as their opinions of the styleStyle (fiction)
In fiction, style is the manner in which the author tells the story. Along with plot, character, theme, and setting, style is considered one of the fundamental components of fiction.-Fiction-writing modes:...
in which Push is written. Some consider "the harrowing storyline [to be] exaggerated," saying that it doesn't seem realistic to "saddle one fictional character with so many problems straight from today's headlines" (Glenn). Others have stated that while the dialect
Dialect
The term dialect is used in two distinct ways, even by linguists. One usage refers to a variety of a language that is a characteristic of a particular group of the language's speakers. The term is applied most often to regional speech patterns, but a dialect may also be defined by other factors,...
is problematic, Precious herself is believable because she "speaks in a darting stream of consciousness of her days in an unexpectedly evocative fashion" (Mahoney).
Dialect/Voice
Precious begins the novel functionally illiterate. She spells words phonetically. She uses a "minimal English that defies the conventions of spelling and usage and dispenses all verbal decorum" (Mahoney). Precious employs words such as "nuffin'," "git," "borned," "wif," and "chile". She also uses an array of four-letter words and harsh details that depict in the life that she has experienced. Michiko KakutaniMichiko Kakutani
is an American Pulitzer Prize-winning critic for The New York Times and is considered by many to be a leading literary critic in the United States.-Life and career:...
, a book reviewer for The New York Times claims that Precious' "voice conjures up [her] gritty unforgiving world."
Aero'Stal Journey As the book progresses and Precious learns to read and write there is a stark change in her voice, though the dialect remains the same.
"Last week we went to the museum. A whole whale is hanging from the ceiling. Bigger than big! OK, have you seen a Volkswagen car that's like a bug? Um huh, you know what I'm talking about. That's how big the heart of a blue whale is. I know it's not possible, but if that heart in me could I love more? Ms Rain, Rita, Abdul?" (Push, p. 138).
"Well, I just write in my notebook till I git wif some kinda therapist I can trust. Actually that help me more than talking to her. Plus I'm going to start going to meetings wif Rita for insect survivors." (Push, p. 123).
See also
- Precious, the film adaptation
Sources
- Bennett, Tegan. "Sapphire shapes a gem that is Precious." Sydney Morning Herald 18 Jan. 1997, late ed.: 12.
- Freeman-Greene, Suzy. "Hard beat of Harlem; Books." The AgeThe AgeThe Age is a daily broadsheet newspaper, which has been published in Melbourne, Australia since 1854. Owned and published by Fairfax Media, The Age primarily serves Victoria, but is also available for purchase in Tasmania, the Australian Capital Territory and border regions of South Australia and...
21 Sep. 1996, late ed.: 7. - Harmon, William et al. A Handbook to Literature. 9th ed. NJ:Prentice HallPrentice HallPrentice Hall is a major educational publisher. It is an imprint of Pearson Education, Inc., based in Upper Saddle River, New Jersey, USA. Prentice Hall publishes print and digital content for the 6-12 and higher-education market. Prentice Hall distributes its technical titles through the Safari...
, 2003. - Harrell, Shante' L. D. et al. "Ramona Lofton (Sapphire)." VG: Voices from the Gaps. 2006. University of Minnesota. 16 Apr. 2009. http://voices.cla.umn.edu/vg/Bios/entries/lofton_ramona.html
- Kakutani, Michiko. "BOOK OF THE TIMES; A Cruel World, Endless Until a Teacher Steps In." The New York TimesThe New York TimesThe New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
14 Jun. 1996, late ed.: 29. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C07E3D91739F937A25755C0A960958260 - Powers, William. "Sapphire's Raw Gem; Some Say Her Novel Exploits Suffering. She Says They're Reading It All Wrong." The Washington PostThe Washington PostThe Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
6 Aug. 1996:B1.
External links
- The Official Film Website
- Interview about Precious with the cast and director, as well as Sapphire herself, at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival:
- Sundance Interview Part 1
- Sundance Interview Part 2
- Sundance Interview Part 3