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.