Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit Analysis

In the world Jeanette Winterson constructs in Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit, we see two sides to the world, history and fiction. We see textual examples of fiction through Jeanette’s hallucinations, through Jeanette’s encounters with others after significant conflicts between Jeanette and third parties, and through her questioning of authority or fact. On the other side of the binary we see Jeanette’s mother creating a controlling environment for her daughter, which cannot be questioned and is true no matter the situation Jeanette is in. In Oranges, Jeanette’s mother states “I’m your mother,” (Winterson 101) right after Jeanette listened to the conversation Jeanette’s mother had with Jeanette’s biological mother. This example supports the …show more content…
In Oranges, Jeanette represents fiction and her mother represents history or fact. In the first several chapters Jeanette’s adoptive mother places a firm stranglehold of authority on Jeanette. The control used by Jeanette’s mother displays how she is a representative of history or fact. Jeanette’s mother only goes off of what she knows and she believes it so much so that it becomes a fact for her, a reality. This is evident in Oranges when Jeanette becomes deaf and her mother believes that demons are possessing Jeanette. From this …show more content…
In the church, a child is believed to represent a symbol of love between two parents. This means that the parents look out for the child’s best interests while keeping them safe from harm and bettering the child throughout their youth. In Oranges, Jeanette clearly represents a false sense of love between her parents. At one point in the book, Jeanette’s mother believes that when Jeanette goes deaf, she claims that Jeanette is full of spirit. Miss Jewsbury, a woman that attends the same church as Jeanette, clearly lays it out for Jeanette’s mother by claiming “This child’s not full of the Spirit, she’s deaf,” (Winterson 26). A caring or loving parent would notice that there is something wrong with their child and give them the care that they need. Many a time in the bible, we see how God works through people and does not directly intervene into situations. The theme of Jeanette’s mother not recognizing and caring for Jeanette’s needs becomes clearer and clearer throughout the book. Her father is not mentioned very often in the book and one of those few times occurs on page 15 when Winterson says “My father had already gone to bed because he worked early shifts,” (Winterson 15). This lack of love and care from her parents displays that Jeanette is a fictional representation of love between her parents. An example of this comes on pages 41, 42, and 43 of Oranges when Jeanette is having these concerning