In the past narrative’s that we have read we talked about how a slave was made, how a master was made, and how whites and blacks were conditioned to live. In this novel we see how Precious is conditioned as a slave, but to her parents. Her father and mother sexually use her whenever they please (12). Her mother also beats her for no reason at all, and controls her down to the food she eats (20). We discussed one of the ways that slave masters kept control of their slaves was through ignorance, and Precious is kept in the dark just as these slaves were. Precious is conditioned to believe that she is dumb, “ I wanna say I ain’ stupid but I know I am…” (14). Precious actually believes that she is no one, and that she is dumb. She is kept in the dark because she is stuck with her mother. Her mother controls everything that she does, and she has to get past her mother in order to become free. Precious knows that she has to get an education in order to get a job and to get out of her mother’s house, and that is what she wants the most. Precious knows what is happening to her isn’t right, but she can’t escape it. Hopefully with her want for education, she will get it, and she will be able to escape the horrors of her own home.
Precious wants to escape the horrors of her own home in order to create and identity for herself. So far, she has no true identity that she lives by. Her family situation controls her identity and by escaping she will be able to form a separate identity. Something interesting about her identity thus far is how others see her identity. Not only is she looked at by her race, as shown in our other books, but by other factors. Her education status, age, socio-economic standing, weight and sexuality are how other people also judge her identity. They see a 16 year old girl that is still in junior high, pregnant with her second child and is extremely overweight. She is 'feared" by others at school, hated by her mother at home, sexually abused by her father all of which help lead to her confusion about her own identity.
Precious wants to escape the horrors of her own home in order to create and identity for herself. So far, she has no true identity that she lives by. Her family situation controls her identity and by escaping she will be able to form a separate identity. Something interesting about her identity thus far is how others see her identity. Not only is she looked at by her race, as shown in our other books, but by other factors. Her education status, age, socio-economic standing, weight and sexuality are how other people also judge her identity. They see a 16 year old girl that is still in junior high, pregnant with her second child and is extremely overweight. She is 'feared" by others at school, hated by her mother at home, sexually abused by her father all of which help lead to her confusion about her own identity.
This is from one of my education classes, just some affects of low confidence on school work, kind of interesting if you want to take a look.
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