Narrator and point of view

Most of the story is told by Precious herself as a first-person narrator. Right from the start the story is framed as Precious telling her life story to some unknown audience - possibly through a diary or journal of some kind:

My name is Claireece Precious Jones. I don’t know why I’m telling you that. Guess ‘cause I don’t know how far I’m gonna go with this story, or whether it’s even a story or why I’m talkin’; whether I’m gonna start from the beginning or right from here or two weeks from now. [...] I’m gonna try to make sense and tell the truth, else what’s the fucking use? Ain’ enough lies and shit out there already? (pp. 3-4)

The narrative structure is frequently chaotic, as Precious often skips between past and present as ideas strike her. In particular, Chapter I features a number of examples of flashback and fast-forward, as we are informed about various elements of Precious’ backstory.

There is a strong element of stream-of-consciousness to the narrative, as we can often tell that Precious mind has started to wander as she recalls some event from her childhood (...