Pentathalon Semester 1

For my fourth Pentathalon, I chose to look into a list of books that have been banned or censored in classrooms or other settings. From this list I picked out Push by Sapphire. Push is a diary-style realistic fiction novel, one that follows the raw and tragic but nevertheless hopeful story of sixteen-year-old Precious living in Harlem. Precious is illiterate and uneducated, despite having gone through some modicum of public education. She had her first child at age 12, and is pregnant again throughout Push, with both pregnancies having been from her abusive biological father. She lives in a cramped apartment with her mother, who abuses her physically, sexually, and verbally. Precious' only escape from her upsetting home situation is the alternative school she eventually gets acceptance to, and she joins a small number of other young girls facing traumatizing situations (poverty, abuse, drug abuse, racism/homophobia, rape, grooming etc.) in a quest towards literacy and life skills. The classroom is taught by the inspiring Ms. Rain, who teaches Precious and the other girls the power of writing, and eventually leads Precious to discover something she truly has passion for: poetry.

Not only is this book an incredibly unique read (it is written with frequent misspellings and errors, thus further cementing Precious' illiteracy), it also is an excellent social/political commentary on the lives of those written off by authorities as "one more of Harlem's casualties." Sapphire does not hesitate to write about Precious' difficult life with almost grotesque detail, which is why this book is often opposed or seen as too graphic. The truth is that books like these need to include those heavy stories, as experiences like violence, rape, and abuse are not just stories in a book for some people, it is their reality. When people water down stories like these, they are subsequently erasing the true nature of the violence that people go through, which can limit the voices of these victims and further allow their abusers to get away with their crimes. In addition to this, Push also is incredibly successful in bringing to light perspectives that are often ignored in favor of what the media/a higher narrative says instead. For example, before reading this book, a student from a mostly-white suburb may view people from the inner-city with a one-dimensional, often unfairly critical lens, one that is frequently the narrative spun by anti-Welfare right-wing news outlets and other groups who lack empathy/understanding of these people's situation. But, if a student were to read this book and hear similar stories, they may come to develop empathy for/see these people as people, which is somehow a feat too difficult for those who write off inner-city people as unsalvagable and victims of their own creation (which is obviously far from the truth). Thus can people use literature as the spark of a match towards a lifetime of advocacy, as the student in the example could use their newfound perspective to help people in precarious situations in dismantling the systems built to oppress them, or, on more simple terms, help them get access to life's basic necessities. Empathy grows as we learn, and through Push, people from differing backgrounds can do just that: learn and further nurture their empathetic capacities.