Push and Kindred: Analysis of the Characters
Precious and Dana seem like they are very different, and in many ways they are. Dana is educated, sophisticated, married to a good man, and generally is very happy and content, until she begins to go back in time. Precious, on the other hand, is abused, illiterate, a two-time mother, and pretty much on her own and cast adrift at a very young age. At first glance, they could not be more different, and their voices are different two. Dana writes with style and purpose, while Precious writes with passion and ignorance, so much so that it is sometimes difficult to read her words. Dana thinks, "I turned and walked away from the arguing children, feeling tired and disgusted" (Butler 99). However, they both live through very harrowing experiences that leave them emotionally and physically scarred, and that is one of the things that tie these two women together.Another commonality is that they both suffer at the hands of people in their lives. Dana, when she goes back in time, suffers beatings and other indignities while she is in the past, and she actually commits a murd
Values determine how we live much as money do. ugly black grease to be wipe away, punish, kilt, changed, finded a job for" (Sapphire 33). It makes it harder to figure out what she is trying to say, and it makes the book harder to read, even though it perfectly captures her character and who she is. She represents the black children of the ghetto who have to be street savvy and not book savvy, while Dana represents the blacks who have attempted to get out of the ghetto, get an education, and make something of themselves, which not all children in the hood have a chance to do. Precious shows that, and shows how often the educational system fails them, leaving them without any skills or ways to really take care of themselves or their families. One of the biggest differences between Dana and Precious is their education. It is not just that she cannot spell or write well; it is her use of street language and swear words that is difficult to keep reading again and again. Therefore, they are both victims of other people in the novels, and that is another tie that binds them together. Dana is a college graduate and a professional, while Precious is functionally illiterate at the beginning of the book. She thinks to herself, "I felt as though I were losing my place here in my own time. Another difference is in how they react to their situations.
Common topics in this essay:
Dana Dana,
Dana Precious,
Don't Don't,
Push Precious',
NOTHIN' Sapphire,
Miz Rain,
person narration,
educated sophisticated,
|
Acceptance Essays
