Even social services are only involved for Mary's sake. It's an especially ugly manifestation of this trope when the police are called in to handle a twelve-year-old incest victim who just gave birth and their response is to do absolutely nothing.

The nurse actually does call the police after finding out about Precious' father being the father of her baby, and at least in the movie this is how Precious 'made him leave', according to her mother.

When her teacher comes to him because she doesn't know how to help Precious, who (being horribly traumatized, but unable to make herself talk about it) wets herself and zones out in class, he advises her to just give up on her altogether and be grateful she isn't a disruption. Special mention for Precious' elementary school principal.She doesn't find any kind of help until she's well into her teens.

It's not a secret that Precious is pregnant by her father at twelve or that her mother beats her when she gives birth the first time, Precious tells the nurse filling out the birth certificate that she and her baby have the same father, but the nurse's only reaction is to tsk-tsk her over being pregnant so young and all of the adults in Precious' life (including her grandmother, neighbor, and elementary school teachers) utterly fail to intervene, and the social worker employed to check on Little Mongo falls for Mary's scam hook, line, and sinker.

She also forces Precious to have sex with her.

Abusive Parents: Precious's father has repeatedly raped her, and her mother has gone as far as to, among other acts, toss a TV at her after falling down the steps with her son, Abdul.

Not to be confused with the movie about psychics. The 2009 movie version, Precious: Based on the novel 'Push' by Sapphire, was directed by Lee Daniels and starring Gabourey Sidibe as Precious.Ī sequel to the book was published in 2011, called The Kid, about Precious's son Abdul.

There, she makes friends with a kind social worker, Mrs. But things start to look up when she's transferred to a GED program. Her relationship with her mother Mary, meanwhile, is even worse (mostly physical and verbal abuse, but there are some implications of sexual abuse as well). As the story opens, Clareece is pregnant with her second child (both the child she has and the child she's pregnant with are products of rape by her father, Carl). Clareece Jones, aka 'Precious,' is an obese, illiterate African-American teenager living in Harlem with her parents.

Precious sapphire book