The purpose of this paper is to introduce, discuss, and analyze the novel "Push" by Sapphire. Specifically it will respond to the first three chapters of the book. This is a book told in the real language of the streets, about a girl who is living a horrible life. It illustrates the hopelessness of life in the ghetto, and how far removed most people are from this horror.
             It was hard to "like" this work, because it is terribly difficult to read. The language is raw and illiterate, and the situations are awful. At one point, Precious, the main character, says, "Don't nobody want me. Don't nobody need me. I know who I am...ugly black grease to be wipe away, punish, kilt, changed, finded a job for" (Sapphire 33). The sad thing is, this is true, and that makes this book very hard to read, because you have to know that there are millions of girls just like Precious out there, and that is incredibly sad.
             This book really affected me, because this girl goes through so much, and no one but her teacher really cares about her. It shows, ultimately, how much difference a teacher can make when a teacher really cares, but it affected me because Precious is locked in such a terrible life, and she does not see any way to get out. Her father has been raping her since she was seven, and all her mother can do is beat her and blame her. She may be illiterate, but she knows she does not want the same life as her mother, and that makes her very wise, which is a touching part of this book.
             Another part of the book that really affected me was the portrait of motherhood in the book. Precious' mother is certainly no role model, and Precious herself gives up her babies, she knows she cannot raise them herself. It is a sad portrait of mothers, and it adds to the overall sad overtones of this book. My overall reaction to this book is one of unhappiness. Precious is much better off after learning more, but that her life was so horrible for so...