educationThe lack of education puts Precious at an extreme disadvantage from page one. After joining the alternative school, Precious met with other students who did not have the learning abilities that they need to succeed. The teacher at this school offers them all the chance to learn at their own pace so that they can move forward in life and make something of themselves. Precious is faced with the choice between taking care of her child or continuing with her schooling.
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sexual assaultPrecious has given birth to two children belonging to her father, and one of her earliest memories is being raped by both of her parents. Precious joins an Incest Prevention support group towards the end that helps her cope with the fact that she was raped.
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familyPrecious' childhood was anything but perfect. Her father raped her multiple times and her mother beat her after discovering that Precious was pregnant for the first time. Precious wants to be a working member of society because she wants to be able to support the two children that she's brought into the world and give them the good life that she never had.
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raceMultiple times throughout the story, Precious mentions how her life might be different if she was one of those white girls. She comments on how white people are always portrayed as shiny and stable, while blacks are only showed as crack addicts and rapists. She believes that white people have everything perfect, but learns in the later portion of the book that people of all races around the world face similar problems. Precious learns to accept her own skin in the final pages on the book.
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