“How that is so I don't know. How Mama and Daddy know me for sixteen years and hate me, how a stranger meet me and love me."
After years of abuse from her parents, Precious feels as though nobody will ever love her. For Precious, it is difficult to imagine herself in a relationship with somebody, because she has experienced so much pain from the people closest to her.
"Writing could be the boat to carry you to the other side."
Precious remembers a conversation she had with Ms. Rain, where she confided in her and told her that she felt like she was "drowning," and like "there was a giant river I never cross in front of me." Ms. Rain responds by assuring Precious that she is already writing because she is finding ways to capture her feelings with words and images. She then tells Precious that writing might be the thing that saves her and makes her feel better.
“Is life a hammer to beat me down?”
In this passage, Precious uses a simple but powerful image to describe how life seemingly keeps pushing her down. Precious experiences tragedy after tragedy in her life and can't seem to get a break, which leads her to express her feelings in this way.
