Oranges are Not the Only Fruit - Jeanette Winterson (1985) Analysis
“Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit” is definitely a struggle for modern identity. Its pages are woven with black humour, twisted tales of folklore and the opposing and antagonistic themes of religion and sexuality. It is set in a time you know is modern for ice-cream vans, radios and kettles take leading roles. But specific years and decades are not noted. This creates an ambiguous setting for the novel: somewhere between the contemporary and the traditional which mirrors the themes involved.
The plot follows young Jeanette on her journey from the age of seven through adolescence. Her mother is a Christian fundamentalist and adopted Jeanette so she could have a child in a sexless manner that she could go on to raise to be a servant of God. Jeanette does not know anyone aside from the other members of the church until, at the age of the seven, her mother is ordered to send Jeanette to school. Her mother insists Jeanette is set to become a Missionary. Jeanette as she grows up has two love affairs with other girls in the congregation. The first is found out but she repents, the second she is found out but she rebels. Her mother kicks her out as she believes her sins will curse them all.
Jeanette’s struggle for identity was inevitable. It was always going to be a struggle because she had an identity forced upon her by her God-driven Mother who pre-determined her path in life. Perhaps all would have gone to plan if Jeanette had not gone to school and been exposed to “normal” life. Or perhaps if she’d led a life less sheltered from men and sex her choices would have been different “I would cross seas and suffer sunstroke and give away all I have, but not for a man, because they want to be the destroyer and never be destroyed.”
As she discovers her identity, her religious beliefs begin to change. As she struggles to come to terms with her new feelings and her new self, the church casts her out into the “real world”. The biggest decision she makes is not to admitting she has committed a sin. In realising her identity the world she came to know tumbled upside down but left her with a sense of self she never took from the church before.
“I seem to have run in a great circle, and met myself again on the starting line.”
“I don't know how to answer. I know what I think, but words in the head are like voices underwater. They are distorted.”
“In the library I felt better, words you could trust and look at till you understood them, they couldn't change half way through a sentence like people, so it was easier to spot a lie.”
“But where was God now, with heaven full of astronauts, and the Lord overthrown? I miss God. I miss the company of someone utterly loyal. I still don't think of God as my betrayer. The servants of God, yes, but servants by their very nature betray. I miss God who was my friend."
“Everyone thinks their own situation most tragic. I am no exception.”
“..to change something you do not understand is the true nature of evil.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qjtxB8Gi-Fc
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