Push

By Sapphire

Main Characters

Main Characters (cont.) From School

Main Characters (cont.)

The Setting In Harlem, 1987

Precious lives with her mother and drug addicted father; both abusive

Precious’ mom lives off of public assistance and security checks she gets from “Little Mongo”

Precious is pregnant with her 2nd child from her father

She should be a junior, but is still in 9th grade

Summary Precious has been abused since she was 7 years

old by her mom and dad.

Her mom doesn’t care about anything but getting money from the government, and makes Precious cook and clean for her when she comes home from school.

Precious is shy and has no friends. She doesn’t want to ask to go to the bathroom at school, so she just urinates in her seat.

She has horrible grades because she doesn’t try or listen at all.

Summary (cont.)

The story begins with Precious (at the time pregnant with

Abdul) being called to the guidance counselor’s office.

The guidance counselor “suggests” Precious leave school

and go to a Higher Education Alternative school called

Each One Teach One, even though really she’s kicking

Precious out of school for being pregnant.

Precious doesn’t think it’s fair to be kicked out when she

didn’t choose to be pregnant; she didn’t have a choice

since it was with her dad.

Summary (cont.)

Precious ends up going to the Each One Teach One school.

Ms. Blue Rain is Precious’ teacher there and encourages everyone in the class to keep pressing on and try their hardest.

Most of the students have no clue how to read or write and have lived hard lives.

She has the students keep a journal and write as much as they can about whatever they like and she writes them back along with corrections for their spelling and grammar.

Precious has friends at her new school and she loves feeling like she’s actually accepted and not just “the fat black girl”.

Summary (cont.) Precious has her baby Abdul.

She doesn’t want to live with her mom anymore. She wants to have her own place, but she doesn’t have any money.

Ms. Rain helps her find a home for her at a halfway house where Precious can go to school and leave Abdul in safe hands.

Her mom comes to visit her to tell her that Precious’ dad just died from AIDS. Precious was so worried she or Abdul might have it.

She gets tested only to find out she is HIV positive and Abdul is not. She is so relieved her baby boy is healthy, but is also so mad at how unfair life is that her dad gave her a disease.

Summary (cont.) She has a counselor named Ms. Weiss. Precious doesn’t

like her or trust her at all.

Precious steals her files from Ms. Weiss’ desk and is furious that she wrote down the details of Precious’ past home life and the abuse when she said she wouldn’t.

Rita from school convinces Precious to go to an incest support group meeting in town with her.

Precious goes and tries to share what has happened to her but couldn’t get much out.

She was surprised there were so many people who have gone through the same kind of situation as her.

Summary (cont.)

Precious finds herself having more self confidence.

She also thinks about what it would be like to have a real boyfriend and a real relationship with someone.

Precious writes poems a lot now. She loves writing poems and the class loves her poems as well.

Summary (cont.) Ms. Weiss suggests Precious have a counseling

session with her mom. Precious doesn’t really care and her mom kept calling to ask if she could speak to her daughter.

The day they have a session together, Ms. Weiss asks Precious to share her first memory of her mom.

Sadly, her first memory is of one of the first times she was being sexually abused by her parents.

Summary (cont.)

When Precious’ mom is asked to describe when the abuse first started she makes up some ridiculous story about how she didn’t like it and how she was a great mom and gave Precious everything she could want.

Precious is thinking to herself how she doesn’t remember a single one of these stories her mom is saying about her childhood. She knows her mom just wants to sound like a good parent so she can have Precious and the baby come live back at home.

Ms. Weiss is appalled by what Ms. Johnston has to say.

Summary (cont.) Precious now goes to these “recovery”

meetings for HIV positive girls 16-21.

She has hope now, for her future and herself. She hopes to one day have “Little Mongo” back with her as well.

Precious finally has a better outlook on life and with that attitude she can do anything, and that’s exactly what she plans on doing.

The End