Introduction
Push is a novel by Sapphire, and it covers the socio-economic plight of the people. Precious, a school girl, is pregnant, and she has been chased away from her former school (because of her pregnancy).
Therefore, precious has to get a new life in the new school which does not have the facilities she enjoyed in her former school. Precious and her people are invisible in the society. Things that they do are not recognized, and Precious goes through a lot of suffering because of this.
Precious’s Invisibility to the World
A person becomes invisible to the world when that person is not recognized. Therefore, Precious and her family are invisible since they are not recognized. The needs of Precious families go unnoticed, and this contributes to a lot of suffering (Sapphire 103).
Precious examines the situation of her family, and she says that her family is invisible to the world. This happens when Tesses paints a picture of a girl without a brain.
Precious believes that the sketch is that of her and her family, and she is much troubled. This is because the situation of life that Precious’s family lead is a reflection of poverty and social and economic abuse. Therefore, Precious feels that the image is directed at her.
Precious also gets pregnant, and she is kicked from her school. She has to change school so that she does not disgrace her former school; she is not given a fair hearing. The authorities are just following rules, and they can not let a pregnant girl stay in school (Sapphire 117).
In addition, Precious has to keep the fact that she has another kid secret. This is because she can not get employment when the authorities know of this fact. However, Precious reveals this during her second birth, and this has dire consequences; her mother loses her social security, and consequently, her mother sends her away from home.
Precious’s Oppression
Precious invisibility to the world leads to a lot of oppression on her part. This is because the authorities do not care much about lowly people. In fact, poor people are oppressed by authorities, and they oppress each other. For instance, the school sends Precious to anther school simply because precious is pregnant. This shows that the authorities are oppressing poor girls who are unlucky to get pregnant (Sapphire 126).
Precious is also faced with traumatic experiences since she has been abused sexually by her father. In fact, the pregnancy is as a result of sexual abuse by the father.
This is a great oppression since it is a crime for a father to sleep with his daughter; this is sexual abuse and harassment. However, nothing has been done, this is a traumatic experience, and the school authority should have counseled precious instead of chasing her.
When the authorities realize that Precious has another child, they stop the social security funds for Precious family. The authorities discontinue this funding, but in the real sense, they should have increased funding as a result of the added child. This shows that Precious’s family is invincible to the world (Sapphire 135).
Precious’s oppression also leads to a traumatic experience; she has been infected with HIV from her father. This shows that things should not be allowed to move out of hand; the authorities should act to end this oppression.
Conclusion
The novel seems to tell people that they can make new beginnings despite the situations. Precious, though HIV positive, leads a normal life helping other people; she does not despair.
Discussion Question
What effects does the cutting of social security have on Precious? Is it justified?
Works Cited
Sapphire, S. Push: A Novel. New York: Vintage Contemporaries, 2009. Print.