Week 11: Push by Sapphire (Vintage, 1996, paperback)
I picked up this book because of the acclaim received by the film, Precious. I haven’t seen the film yet, but when I do, I’ll be curious to see what elements of the novel remain and what changed.
The story is told from the first person perspective of Precious Jones, a young black teen suffering through poverty, a lack of education, and most powerfully, an abusive mother and step-father. Through Jones’ vernacular, we learn how the step father impregnated her twice, producing one daughter with Down’s Syndrome; she gives birth to a son during the novel. Her home life, with her mother’s angry dominance, provides no respite. This is an ugly world, with ugly angry people.
Jones gets an opportunity, though, to take a step out. She gets offered a chance at an education away from the public school—a more personal, direct classroom where Jones begins to find self-empowerment through literacy and self-expression. The novel is about her first steps out into being a strong woman.
Sapphire doesn’t hold back on the complex sexual issues here—Jones struggles with her feelings about her step-father’s rape; getting pregnant shows it was a continually situation; and the mother’s own sexual abuse of Jones just adds to the devastation. Ultimately, I felt that Sapphire was piling on for this point. I didn’t see having her pregnant twice, or having the mother part of the sexual abuse, added to the depth of Jones’ suffering. I felt that it was over-the-top. Instead of pulling me into Jones’ world, it felt like a novelistic move that kept it from feeling credible.
The novel feels incomplete; too short for the journey that Jones experiences. And it leaves us rather unclear of what Jones can actually accomplish next in life. In many ways it felt like a sketch of a novel, or a novel half-finished. I didn’t feel like she was a fully developed character, and that keeps us from truly appreciating her experiences or her story.
Next week . . . Five Plays by Ron Ribman.