Chapter 8: Ruth

            The last chapter of the book was inter-spaced with more stories than usual. The girl, Winnet, taken in by the sorcerer was very interesting in how it connected to the book. Many parts of that story can be related to the book. Winnet is alone at the beginning before being take in by the sorcerer, Jeanette was an orphan before her mother found her. Upon arrival to the sorcerer’s home Winnet the sorcerer slowly causes Winnet to forget her past and herself, Jeanette’s mother raised her in a certain way on purpose in an attempt to raise the perfect follower. A boy caused Winnet to lose everything when the sorcerer cast her out. Jeanette’s homosexual relationship was wrong in the eyes of the church and her mother and was cast out because of it. Both leaving on a journey to hopefully a better place. However, I think both the parental figures did feel some misgiving about casting out their daughters. The sorcerer tied a string to his daughter, and Jeanette’s mother acted as if no time had passed when Jeanette returned for Christmas. No apology was given by Jeanette’s mother during the story, which is disappointing but like all things a problem has different solutions based on one’s perspective. From her mother’s view Jeanette betrayed her by being sinful, from Jeanette’s view her mother betrayed her by burning her things. I think at the end of the story both parties involved were able to get at least a little closure, they’ll never be as close as when Jeanette was a child but perhaps there is a future where they both can be happy for the other.

            An interesting scene in this chapter was during Jeanette’s return home for Christmas. Jeanette was standing on the of a hill, making it possible to see where Melanie lived. During this she thought back to when she had coincidentally run into Melanie in her second year away from home. According to Jeanette time had only deadened Melanie, “If she had been serene to the point of bovine before, she was now almost vegetable.” (Winterson 190) I think for Jeanette this was a sad thing to see. A previously good friend and lover had become normal, “I kept looking at her, and wondering how we ever had a relationship; yet when she first left me, I thought I had blood poisoning. I couldn’t forget her. Now she seemed to have forgotten everything” (Winterson 190) Throughout the book Jeanette has mentioned how the past can shape people and how the past is subjective. This scene is an example of that very thing, to Melanie their past relationship was not as important as it was to Jeanette. Melanie looks back on it with detachment and recommended getting rid of meaningless letters, while Jeanette didn’t need letters to remember what they had. The differences described here emphasize how the past can be remembered differently by two people who lived that same event.

Chapter 7: Judges

This chapter contained what we expected to happen at some point, her mother choosing the church over her daughter and kicking her out. After Melanie left Jeanette started managing her own bible study and taking on other duties within the church. Eventually she engaged in another relationship with a member of the same sex, Katy. All seemed well for awhile until, on a week-long trip away, their excitement got the better of them and someone outside their door noticed their activities. Jeanette took the fall, leaving Katy out of her explanation, instead fabricating a story about the absent Melanie. Jeanette seemed better equipped to handle the fallout this time. Katy and Jeanette kept their calm and made a plan, a plan that unfortunately laid all the blame on Jeanette’s willing shoulders but a plan, nonetheless. During the fall out Jeanette kept her cool and resisted their damnation's. She stayed true to herself and refused to go through the church’s demon exorcising ordeal a second time. Throughout all of this her mother has been the most disappointing. Ideally a mother stands by and supports their child in all things. Unfortunately, Jeanette’s mother is not a unique case, especially among religious fanatics, or even just the average parent. Kicking out your child and not caring how they will survive, especially your daughter is mind boggling to me. Jeanette handled it well though, she restrained herself until she handled her current crisis. Finding a place to live away from home for the first time and making the decision to work more in order to make her way in life was very courageous.

            The scene that stood out to me in this chapter was near the beginning, on pages 146 to 147. The scene describes how Katy and Jeanette went away for a week at the Morecambe guest house for the bereaved. It was here that they were found out on the first night. They planned for the fallout, “The plan was the most fanciful of my brilliant career and from her point of view it worked perfectly. There was no hope for me.” (Winterson 146) This quote alludes to first off her plan and how the plan involved Jeanette taking all the blame. Jeanette went on to tell the church that she had secretly met with Melanie again, freeing Katy from all suspicion. This showed Jeanette’s willingness for self-sacrifice, ironically a virtue that church celebrates. Jeanette went into this ordeal with no intention of suffering the same fate twice, “I didn’t know what to expect, but I knew I wouldn’t live through any of that again.” (Winterson 147) The characters are expanded upon in this scene, Katy’s sadness about the situation and Jeanette’s willingness to take the fall alone saving Katy from, Jeanette put it, “She was stubborn and angry like me, but unlike me she couldn’t cope with the darker side of our church.” (Winterson 147) The scene ends with a note of sincere determination.

Chapter 6: Joshua

            A lot of life altering thing happened to Jeanette in this chapter. Jeanette’s relationship is clarified. Unfortunately, what I feared happened. After telling her mother some of what was going on between her and Melanie, her mother promptly informed the church and together persecuted the both of them until they gave in and repented. To me, this was an unbelievable betrayal on her mother’s part. However, it wasn’t until her mother burned her letters and personal notes that Jeanette considered it a betrayal, which I think was a bit late but can see where she was coming from. Telling the church might have been subconsciously expected. However, going into her room and burning her things could be considered a more personal kind of attack and betrayal. I think this was a major cause for Jeanette’s realization that her mother is not always right, “In her head she was still queen, but not my queen any more, not the White Queen any more. Walls protect and walls limit. It is in the nature of walls that they should fall. That walls should fall is the consequence of blowing your own trumpet.” (Winterson 127) At this moment Jeanette affirmed to herself that her mother was no longer her queen, worthy of her loyalty and trust. I think this quote works on multiple levels to illustrate what happened in that scene. First it alludes to the relationship dynamic between Jeanette and her mother. As a queen and follower, Jeanette obeyed her mother and let her dictate her life, satisfied with no status quo. The walls that closed her in were safe and familiar. The queen blowing her own trumpet, her mother betraying her to the church, tore down those walls and liberated Jeanette, at the cost of the trust between them.

            A major scene in this chapter, on pages 116 to 121, starts off innocently enough. Jeanette is with Melanie when they make plans to go to church together. It is at church where things take a turn for the worse. There relationship is revealed to the horrified congregation. They “have fallen under Satan’s spell.” (Winterson 118) Is one of many accusations thrown at the two lovers. Melanie promptly capitulates, Jeanette runs out of the church to a waiting Miss Jewsbury. At miss Jewsbury’s house they talked before eventually sleeping together. In the scene itself Jeanette describes her interaction with Miss Jewsbury as ‘making love,’ however, I argue that Jeanette was not in the right frame of mind for that kind of act. Jeanette herself described it as “We made love and I hated it and hated it, but would not stop.” (Winterson 121) Miss Jewsbury took advantage of her during a time of emotional turmoil, another kind of betrayal from someone she trusted. This scene described a huge turning point for Jeanette. Multiple betrayals in the form of her mother’s loose lips, Melanie’s incapability to stand up for her, and Miss Jewsbury taking advantage, forced Jeanette to learn multiple lessons about life and who to trust.

Chapter 5: Deuteronomy

            This chapter was the shortest so far, but it was interesting because the entirety of the chapter was Jeanette’s thoughts on time and the past. The chapter starts out very strong with, “Time is a great deadener.” (Winterson 107) The rest of the chapter builds on this premise with great descriptions and examples. I think this chapter explains some of the views the author herself has on the past and memories. In one of her interviews she talks about her unique view on the subject, this chapter may be one of the core pillars of her view. This chapter could be setting up the reader for something later in the book. Possibly if Jeanette leaves this life behind for something new, I think this chapter will apply heavily when she thinks about her past. A past that may not be that pleasant to remember. Nothing drastic has happened yet that would force her to become estranged with her mother or the church, but some foreshadowing has taken place. Jeanette’s undefined relationship with Melanie may be something that develops in a way that her current lifestyle would view negatively. My thoughts while reading this chapter is if this chapter is a sort of interlude. Separating the acts of the story. Previously Jeanette had met and befriended Melanie. That friendship was slowly changing. Quite possibly in the future this friendship may evolve into something other than platonic. IF that happens this chapter is well placed to separate the story. From before, her comfortable problem free life, to after, a possible question ridden life about her sexuality and the fallibility of the church.

            The majority of this chapter was on Jeanette’s thoughts regarding time and the past, thoughts that she applies to a history book towards the end of the chapter. While looking at the book she thought, “Perhaps the event has an unassailable truth. God saw it. God knows it. But I am not God. And so when someone tells me what they heard or saw, I believe them, and I believe their friend who also saw, but not in the same way, and I can put these accounts together and I will not have a seamless wonder but a sandwich laced with mustard of my own.” (Winterson 110) This quote near the end of the chapter encapsulates perfectly the one of Jeanette’s personal views. While not mention beyond the one time in this chapter I think the history book Jeanette looks at is a strong symbol. The history book represents something beyond just being a book, it represents the past. When Jeanette looks at a history book, she doesn’t just see a biased history somebody wrote down, she also understands that their view of the past may differ from hers or somebody else’s. The past can be subjective based on the person telling the story. This chapter is also unique in the way that it doesn’t appear to have multiple scenes in one chapter. The chapter instead contains her inner thoughts with a reference to a single history book. By being one of the only physical objects referenced in the chapter, this places emphasis on the book, turning it into a symbol.

Chapter 4: Numbers

            This chapter had several interesting things going on it. Jeanette’s mother continued to give some questionable answers to questions but also some interesting advice. When Jeanette tells her mother about her nightmare about getting married, she is brushed off. Instead of looking into what could potentially be a developing psychological problem in her child she instead brushes it off. Now given that, I as a reader, am privy to her inner thoughts and know that the dream is likely connected to musings she has on the regular, my opinion will be biased. A parent not knowing those things may be justified in not putting forth a greater amount of care to a seemingly nonsensical random nightmare. Later in the chapter her mother thinks she fancies a boy in the church and gives her advice on the matter. The story that accompanies the advice made me feel bad for her mother and made question if her mother had a figure in her life that she could have gone to for this kind of advice before making a mistake like that. In this instance I think she was being a good mother, even if she misconstrued the situation. The advice she gave her daughter, while not applicable to Jeanette and the boy, was still good advice, “what you think is the heart might well be another organ.” (Winterson 104) This can be even be applied to many thing things outside of heart related matters.

            A scene that interested me in this chapter was when her mother leaves for Wigan for what was supposed to be a few days. “She didn’t come back for three weeks,” (Winterson 67) Jeanette thought. This demonstrated to me, as if the reader doesn’t know at this point, where her mother’s priorities lie. The way the scene plays out makes it seem like there was little to no forewarning about the increased length of time her mother would be away. The scene goes on to describe her Mother’s good business sense. Descriptions of how she managed the churches subscription service and newly designed gifts each year show the importance that was placed on this event. A great contrast to anything to do with Jeanette. The scene moves into a meeting held over the weekend once a year. There Jeanette and her mother with a friend of her mother, who would make most of the wreaths for the Fylde coast. The conversation was interesting because it exposed Jeanette to one way of looking at death, as a business. People live longer now and as her Mother’s friend would say, “No, business isn’t what it was.” (Winterson 68) Her Mother’s friend is more concerned with people never wanting anything new or unique when requesting wreaths. Jeanette shows her helpful nature by suggesting that she make wreaths for weddings but is shot down when her Mother’s friend says they want the same thing as dying people, crosses.

Chapter 3: Leviticus

            Over half of this chapter is dedicated to a story the girl hears in a sermon. From this she began to develop her first theological disagreement. I thought the story about the prince searching for perfection was interesting, but a faint feeling of revulsion accompanied me during the beginnings of the story. Searching for perfection to the exclusion of all else, feels wrong to me. When the maiden convinces him that he is looking for a sense of balance I cheered. Unfortunately, he was persuaded to fall back to his old ways, “Because you are a prince, and as a prince you cannot be seen to be wrong.” (Winterson 78) The story also demonstrates what the vast majority of people do when told they are wrong, lash out at the accuser. The disagreement she has is not explicitly stated in this chapter but considering the story that followed the assertion. I think she likely had a disagreement on the subject of perfection. What part of the story about perfection is a major factor. The pursuit of perfection? The idea of perfection itself? Personally, I do not think universal perfection is possible in any mortal thing. Every person or animal has their own idea of perfection different from the being next to them, making the idea of perfection a very subjective thing. As the prince was told more than once, “You’ll be dead first.” (Winterson 80) Chasing an impossibility always leads to a bad end. This story makes me wonder what she took away from it and what she disagreed with, information I hope to find out later in the book.

            The scene from this chapter I want to focus on is at the beginning. She is with her mother and a friend when they hear sounds coming from next door. Her mother said, “They’re fornicating.” (Winterson 64) I thought this scene was interesting because it showed her mothers reaction to sinful actions and her reaction as a child to something she didn’t fully understand at the time. “I didn’t know quite what fornicating was, but I had read about it in Deuteronomy, and I knew it was a sin. But why was it so noisy? Most sins you did quietly so as not to get caught.” (Winterson 65) I laughed here, the logic of a child shines through here. This scene was good for adding depth to the characters in it. The adult’s nuanced interaction with the wineglass to the child’s reaction of wanting to hear what everybody else is listening to was very realistic and brought the reader a little closer to the story. I think the reactions detailed in this scene have some connection to the story told in the latter half of the chapter. The mother reacts aggressively to what she perceives as sin taking place next door. The neighbors also react negatively to the hymns sung next to them. This is one way of showing that both sides react in similar ways, no matter the beliefs or amount of religious fervor. I think actions like these are subtly influencing her that will eventually accumulate to something, what that something is, we’ll have to find out.

Chapter 2: Exodus

            The second chapter of the book Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit gave me a lot to think about. But the biggest thing was an ever-increasing dislike of the mother. Her religious fervor is detracting from her being a loving mother. I understand that I am defining ‘loving mother’ by my meaning of the phrase and that, to the mother in concern she probably does think she is being a loving mother. But when your child goes deaf due to the clothes she is wearing, tries to tell you about it and instead of going to the hospital you claim religious enlightenment, there is something wrong. To then leave that child in the hospital before she undergoes a surgery the next morning is unbelievable to me. As a grown adult, any surgery, no matter how benign, makes me nervous. The emotional trauma that could cause a lone child upsets me greatly. It is disheartening that she wasn’t sure if her final wishes would be followed if she passed away, and just reinforces my view that her mother and father are sub-par parents. She mentions her parents visiting after the fact, but the lack of description or focus on those visits signifies to me a dearth of interest. She focuses much more on the interactions between herself and Elsie. From what it sounded like Elsie was one of the first people to talk to her and not at her. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem like Elsie will be the outside stabilizing presence she needs. Her age and forgetfulness make her ill-suited for that role.

            The scene I chose was, in my mind, the beginning of her troubles in school. “At school I couldn’t seem to learn anything or win anything.” (Winterson 42) This scene demonstrated how school was a new and foreign environment for her. An environment she was having trouble adapting to. The issue shown in this scene is that she has been raised with certain ideas and expectations of what everybody ought to know. Her lack of knowledge that not everybody thinks the way that people in her home environment think is her downfall here. Her determination to do well can be seen by the amount of work she puts into her essay “What I Did in my Summer Holidays” (Winterson 43) Unfortunately certain views from her family comes to light that negatively affects her standing in the class. The teacher does not let her finish her reading, to giggles from the class. Although she had problems before this at school, I think this was the beginning of the other kids not liking her. Throughout the chapter and this scene, she draws on religious stories to fortify her resolve and determination. While impressive, I fear that it isolates her from different ways of thinking and perhaps new perspectives. The cause, almost assuredly, being her upbringing. While to early to break away, I think this is just one scene of many that will demonstrate that while not wrong, her way of thinking will certainly not make her many friends. I think this could be a catalyst to initiate change in her way of thinking, how long that will take is the question.

Chapter 1: Genesis

            The first chapter of the book Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit, Genesis forced me to take multiple breaks. Not because the writing was bad, but because the style of writing, while interesting, was foreign to me. Having only heard quotes from the bible in passing, the style of this chapter was very different from I am used to. It’s also not often I read something from a first-person perspective. I found that this perspective allowed for some unique insight into the main characters thoughts. Hearing the thoughts of the main character as they were happening was interesting, however the reader does lose out on the expanded view that a third person narrator provides. But that is likely on purpose, after all the main character of this story is seven years old in this chapter. The chapter provided a lot of background information on the young girl, a lot of it on how her mother is raising her. Her mother comes off somewhat as a crazed religious fanatic, that appears to have been keeping her child from going to school. I found the comparison of the two short stories, of the distraught princess and the mother finding a child from a star, interesting and vaguely foreboding. Like her mother has plans for her, while nothing sinister is insinuated I still shivered. While to early to tell if those plans are beneficial or not, from what I’ve researched of the author and that this story is a kind of autobiography, I believe she does end up leaving due to an inability, on her mothers part, to accept her. But that may not be the case, reading further will enlighten me.

            The scene I chose to write about is where she and her mother are walking towards a hill in town. This scene provides a small description of the town she lives in. The first chapter, in my mind, was mostly about describing a setting. A lot of descriptions involving her mother was given, but in such a way that it makes me think of as part of the setting not a character unto herself. In this scene the town is described with valley’s and hills, and as a place where a fair is held once a year. “Over to the right was the viaduct and behind the viaduct Ellison’s tenement, where we had the fair once a year.” (Winterson 13) She would go sometimes to collect black peas for her mother. It was there she is told by an old woman that she would never marry and never be still. This, to me, is possible foreshadowing of her breaking free from the common mold or setting. The old woman’s words reminded her of two older women that never married. At the time she was not aware of the possible implications. This scene was crucial to the first chapter because it provided some descriptions, foreshadowing, and thoughts of the main character that reveal some insight into her personality. A personality still developing.