In Sapphire's Push, the reader is immediately pulled into the harsh life of Claireece "Precious" Jones, a sixteen year old girl who lives in an abusive household with her two children, suffering rape and incest by her father as well as sexual and physical abuse from her mother. Precious is aware of her situation and how the system views her. This is apparent when she says, "I see the pink faces in suits look over top of my head. I watch myself disappear in their eyes, their tesses" (Sapphire, 31). It seems her only way of escape is completing her education by going to an alternative school. Although the novel, Push, is told through voice of Precious and the film, Precious, is told through her perspective, the novel is more visual than the film in terms of description.
There is a difference between the novel and the film on how the narration of Precious is portrayed. The novel is more like an in depth diary in which the reader may feel like they're entrusted with a treasure chest of thoughts and secrets. In other words, the reader may feel like they're in the mind of Precious rather than looking at her from the outside. For example, when her father rapes her, it is not only mentioned several times in the book, but described in graphic detail.
[...] Precious is aware of her situation and how the system views her. This is apparent when she says, “I see the pink faces in suits look over top of my head. I watch myself disappear in their eyes, their tesses” (Sapphire, 31). It seems her only way of escape is completing her education by going to an alternative school. Although the novel, Push, is told through voice of Precious and the film, Precious, is told through her perspective, the novel is more visual than the film in terms of description. [...]
[...] Precious sharing these secrets means that she trusts the reader with them, strengthening the connection between her character and the reader. The film, however, is brief with these secrets, leaving the audience to assume how she feels about them. Although the film and novel have different ways of portraying Precious' story to the audience, they both manage to maintain the strength of her voice as she tells it. Works Cited Precious. Dir. Lee Daniels. Icon, 2009. DVD. Sapphire. Push: A Novel. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1996. Print. [...]
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