Review of Sapphire’s Book, Push

When people hear the word self-esteem, they think of many things. Strength, power, individuality, courage. Self-esteem is when one has the confidence to think and act effectively (Healthy Self-Esteem 6 Pillars Nathaniel Branden). In the novel Push by Sapphire, the main character Precious, being an only child and growing up in a broken household, doesn’t seem to have much of it. With a mother who beats her and a father she has had a child with, there isn't much confidence going on. Precious faces these obstacles. Precious must choose between being able to overcome these insecurities that seem to only tear her down, or run the other way. Most people in life have insecurities issues about their weight, how they look and being accepted by others. The way you can overcome these three insecurities is by finding confidence in yourself, which builds your self esteem and by having a good support system that has your back no matter what.

Precious has dreams just like everyone else. She dreams of success, love, being happy, etc. “I...... , in my own world, I am so pretty, like a advertisement girl on commercial...(Sapphire (Precious) 35) Precious, in her head, created a world where she was who she wanted to be. Flawless, gorgeous, worthy, happy... But creating a place doesn't make it effective. It doesn’t get a person anywhere. Precious hasn’t realized the real definition of self esteem just yet. There is never a right time for self esteem to just pop up. It can come at any time in any place.

Precious has had a hard childhood. Facing her mother's abuse everyday, and going to school and being picked on wasn’t easy. Not only that, but Precious was pregnant again. Being confronted about it wasn’t that much fun either. “This hoe keepin me from maff class. I like maff class.”(Sapphire (Precious) 7). It’s a place she feels comfortable being. A place Precious feels she belongs. Life at home may have been hard but when she got to school, this was one of the few classes she looked forward to. Something she wanted to learn. Precious’ self-esteem may be have been low, due to the fact that her mother didn’t care about her life others parents did, but it was showing a little more and more each day.

Precious hit a hard moment in her life. She has another baby. It is really hard. Only being 16 and having had a second child. She wanted to disappear. To go away and never come back. But something happened. Someone happened. “I’m so sorry, Ms. Jones, so so sorry.” (Sapphire 17) When no one was there for her, that nurse was. “I crying for me who no one ever hold before.” (Sapphire (Precious) 18). Realizing to be able to get to where a person needs to be in life, they may shed a few tears. Let it all out. It is not only healthy to cry but feel-good chemicals are released in the body whenever a person cries tears of sadness.

Refusing to wander through life stuck in the past. Stuck in misery with a feeling of drowning all the time. That is a feeling Precisou understood very well. Thinking of herself as being fat, ugly, unwanted, dirty, etc etc. A feeling that was no longer wanted. Thoughts that were wanted gone. After awhile, that's what happened “I think about my future alot... all the time” (Sapphire (Precious) 124) That there are more important things in life than being depressed. That being strong not only for yourself but others is also apart of having strong self esteem.

Precious starts to realize that even though life is hard, it is important to have goals. It is important to want to do better. “I’m changing...What I care about is STAYING HEALTHY, SEX (___) , notebook, writing poems”(Sapphire (Precious) 108-109) Since the beginning of the book, Precious has had two options: to live life stuck in a suck fest, or to be strong and try to make something of herself instead of keeping everything bottled in. Precious began to believe that life is full of choices and life is what is decided to be made of it.

Self-esteem is something alot of people struggle with. It’s not easily obtained and it isn’t given freely. It is what Precious has come to take on as a common strength. Realizing her true potential. She has grown alot since the beginning of the book (and not because it was her birthday), but because she realized living her life in a cloud of dust and fog wasn’t good. That if she wanted something she would work hard to get it because that is what makes a person human. Striving to become a beacon of hope in this cruel and unjust world.