Running head: WHEN PEOPLE WANT TO HELP
When People Want to Help
Wilson Burgos Aroca
Universidad Surcolombiana
When People Want to Help
There are certain periods of life in which we have to face difficulties and traumas. We experience suffering in such a way that our hopes, life projects and dreams become extinct. Sometimes, life problems are too difficult to be overcome by only ourselves. Thus, we need the external help of others and the values they can project towards us in order to triumph over life obstacles. Through their actions, their words, their advice and their receptivity to our troubles, people play an important role when they want to help us.
Push, a novel written by Sapphire in 1996, illustrates the condition of African Americans living in Harlem in the 1980’s and the suffering of a girl, Claireece Precious Jones, who experienced sexual harassment, committed twice by her own father, having as a result two children by him “He has forgot he is the Original Man! So he fuck me, fuck me, beat me, have a chile by me” [34]. Considering the cruelty of the act itself, which is also reflected in the language the novel has, Precious could overcome this trauma and did not end up committing suicide or being a dangerous criminal.
The question that arises now is related to how Precious overcame her own difficulty and did not take the wrong way. The answer must be related to what the author of the novel expressed in an interview. Sapphire (1996) mentions that “we [women] are taught to be very laid-back and passive, but if we are to survive, if we are to move forward, we have to have that pushing energy.” As a consquence, the role of people that surrounded Precious and their interest to help her to overcome her trauma, including her own strength to change her negative points of view about life, made Precious become a woman with hopes, dreams and a high self-esteem.
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In the novel, there are people who are willing to help Precious. The role of professor Rain, the signs of love and motivation towards Precious’s children, the solidarity, receptivity and cooperation of Precious’s classmates, the powerful ideas of Langston Hughes and Alice Walker; and her own strength are the positive influences Precious had to be a living and visible being again.
The role of education is a key aspect in Precious’s change of self-image. On this aspect, Howard, S. (n.d.) recognizes that “there is a fierce longing in Precious to learn to read, as though that will somehow liberate and redeem her.” Moreover, Ms. Rain played an important role as a teacher and had an integral conception of how education must be to these types of people. It is not only to teach how to read and write but also to take into account that we all have difficulties, which have to be considered in the process of education. Ms. Rain helped Precious to think for herself. That is what many teachers do not do in their classrooms. They only teach contents and topics but they do not see the student as an integral human being with life troubles. Even worse, they do not help those students to overcome such difficulties. Precious’s teacher was different in the way that she showed compassion, receptivity, humanity and solidarity to Precious’s trauma.
Ms. Rain transcended from merely being her teacher to become one of Precious’s closest friends. Through the journals, Ms. Rain killed two birds with one stone: she taught Precious how to read and write and, at the same time, she helped her to overcome the experience of sexual harassment she twice suffered. Ms. Rain, an excellent teacher, an excellent adviser, an excellent human being.
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Although they were the result of a painful experience, Precious’s children mean a huge motivation and a considerable sign of love in the novel. Her children do not need to talk to demonstrate how influential they were in Precious’s progress of life: “Little Mongo on my mind” [61] “Abdul is my shiny brown boy. In his beauty I see my own” [140] They meant an important reason for Precious to keep on living in her dark world. Through this, we can see how ironic life is: Two innocent kids as a reflection of love for Precious but at the same time as a product of a hurting act. What does Precious feel when she sees her kids? Only love? Love and hate? It is extremely complicated to be in Precious’s mind when this happens. Imagine the duality of feelings she must experience when she is in front of her own children. Anyway, the truth is that her children mean the world for Precious and the desire of going on with her life in the future.
Fortunately, Precious was not alone. There were other people with similar life troubles and experiences. Precious’s classmates are also considered to be an important and a positive influence on her increase of self-esteem due to the cooperation and unity that existed in the classroom. Her classmates’ receptivity as a means to be strong when facing problems was the biggest characteristic when helping Precious. Through “Life Stories: Our Class Book,” Precious’s classmates found a way of opening their hearts, and at the same time they could keep together and fight together for their own sake.
The role of literature is also present in Precious improvement of life. Authors such as Langston Hughes and Alice Walker play an important role through the power of their words. For instance, Hughes’s poem Mother to Son reflects Precious’s story: “Well, son, I’ll tell you: /life for me ain’t been no crystal stair […] Don’t fall now-/For I’se still climbin’” [112]. Their writings, full of hopes and harmony, encourage Precious not only to continue with her process of education but also with her process of life improvement. In an interview by Mark Marvel (1996) Sapphire claims that “she does not think she could have written Push if Alice Walker had not written The Color Purple, or if Toni Morrison had not written The Bluest Eyes.” Indeed, that is one of the roles of literature. Literature must have a social significance to the world but also a contribution to education. As it is already known, these writers depict the horrific condition of black people in the United States and of course their writings became a great support for Precious, a black girl, to change her negative self-image.
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However, anyone of these people who wanted to help Precious would not have succeeded if she had not predisposed her self to change. The most important aspect in Precious’s overcoming of her trauma is her own strength and conviction that life can be better despite the negative experiences. Nothing could have happened if she did not have the conviction to change her negative self-image.
Therefore, it is recognized that we need a helping hand when experiencing a painful experience, that there will be always people who are willing to help us and that there are always reasons for living. We have to search for this help in order not to be alone. We need the support, the advice, and the words of others so that we can make up our minds and thus start overcoming life difficulties and finding motivations for life. We can not deny that life is also hard and has many obstacles but even in the worst conditions, life continues and we must not let it go.
List of References
Howard, S. (n.d.) Review by Sukey Howard. Retrieved on November 18, 2006 from
http://www.bookpage.com/9609bp/audio/push.html
Marvel, M. (1996) Sapphire’s big push – Sapphire’s novel, ‘Push’ – Interview with Sapphire.
Retrieved on November 18, 2006 from
http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1285/is_n6_v26/ai_18450196
Sapphire (1997) Push. First Vintage Contemporaries/Vintage Books. New York City, United
States of America.