Ruth Response

I love the story of Ruth because she trusted God with all things and everything had worked out for her in the end. I started to realize that the more that Jeanette discovers herself the more that her stories from the beginning which were more biblical transitioned to becoming more mythical. She starts making up her own stories with things that she had never grown up with when she was younger like Wizards and Tetrahedron. Winnet is clearly Jeannette in this story just spelled differently. I thought it was clever she also included the wine glass that her mother had in the story. She considered it as an ear trumpet. It's interesting how the story of Winnet is truly a story about Jeanette but the mother in the story is the wizard which is displayed as a man. I don't know what the author was thinking while she wrote this part of the story. Along with making Winnet's partner a man? I guess if the roles were opposite then Melanie would be a man in her real life story. It did happen that way that Melanie denied or confessed to having relations and had wanted to be forgiven by the church. I think it's kind of messed up that the Pastor said that Elsie didn't love her. Elsie loved her more than her own mother. I think it's funny that she starts offering them vanilla ice cream. These days when we use the word vanilla it usually refers to the most straight laced and boring person. It's very plain and Jeanette is offering it which contradictory to how she is.

I think the interesting part of this story was the fact that Jeanette as a person also uses mythical stories in her life to explain what is going on but she also refers it to biblical stories that she has grown up with. Jeanette also spends a lot of time in this chapter in her mind because she creates a mythical parallel story about herself and everything she has gone through. Yet in her story she portrays her mother as the Wizard which reflects back to her idea that man and woman are fit into the roles they are in because of what society deems it of them. Not because of what they wish to fulfill. The story of Ruth is her mother tells her to leave her side and find a husband that would make her happy. Her mother didn't want her in despair and alone. Ruth then proceeds to find a spouse and returns to her mother. I think. Unless this is the story where she stays by her side At the end of the chapter Ruth in Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit, Jeanette has returned to visit her mother for the holidays. In a hero's journey, this chapter would be considered as Return With The Elixir. Jeanette has been transformed because she decided that she has found her holy grail and will be true it. Upon that realization she decides to leave her home which then transform her mother to realize that "Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit" (Winterson, 174).While her mother doesn't completely accept Jeanette because she goes out and tries to help other parents with their "demon" possessed child she still accepts Jeanette into her home and does not oust her.

Winterson, Jeanette. "Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit". Publisher Group West: Great Britain. 1985.

Judges Response

Thankful for having to write only two more one thousand word responses to the story of Orange is Not the Only Fruit. She got to that conclusion in Joshua. What particularly is aping men? I have never heard of that phrase. I would say that this is the phase of Return with the Elixir. Jeanette has come back to realize that she is more than just what her church or her mother tells her what she is. She has ideas and feelings and she realizes that the gender roles that are placed on men and women are just made by society and not what they feel they should be doing. Jeanette has accepted who she is and realizes that she can never find her true self if she stays at home. The first quote is with the Queen is from the novel Alice and Wonderland which represents how her mother had wanted her to be out of her house. I struggled with the fact that because she doesn't like how she is being treated she hides it. I know that the times were considered different back then. I really liked reading Elsie's role throughout this whole book. She is the mother Jeanette has never known and she is extremely accepting of who she is. I crossed my fingers a lot in hopes that Jeanette does not become exorcised for having desires to make an emotional connection with another person. I don't understand the point of the story of Perceval and the number seven came back again like in the beginning when she was just seven. Oranges are back. Hooray. I laughed when she said, "If there's such a thing as spiritual adultery, mother was a whore" (134). It's interesting how her perspective on her mom has slowly started to unravel as a character. I think it's interesting how Jeanette retells this story of Sir Perceval while she is telling what is currently going on in her life. Sir Perceval leaves Arthur's court where is considered darling and beloved while Jeanette also leaves the church where she is considered adored for her sermons (135). Sir Perceval and Jeanette both leave to find their Holy Grail. I think it's clever that she has such a play on words at the end saying "it's not judgment day, but another morning" (137). I read online that while she considers herself to be Sir Perceval she then sees her mother as being King Arthur but in the role of a man. That is why the chapter Judges follows the stage of Return with the Elixir. She holds the truth within her hands and has been transformed. She lies to evade being persecuted from her church and Jeanette knows inwardly that to find her true self she needs to separate herself from her home and the church. The church and her mother's preachings were everything she has been taught to love and has grown up knowing. The next chapter is Ruth which is amazing because that is one of my favorite biblical stories.

Winterson, Jeanette. "Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit". Publisher Group West: Great Britain. 1985.

Joshua Response

I had to look through and see what was happening in this chapter before I read it. I think this is the part of the chapter in the Hero's Journey called the Ordeal where Jeanette confronts a lot of challenges in her life. I think it's very interesting about how upset she is with the fact that she is uncertain which makes her a heathen and that she was chosen by God (100). I think that it's rude as crap that her mother considers Jeanette's real mother as a "carrying case" (101). I'm a mother and I feel offended just thinking that I carried my son around and that's it. Maybe she had a better reason for dropping Jeanette off to the adoption home. I think it's important that Jeanette says that she loves Melanie as much as she loves the Lord (104) because it means that she is becoming to accept who she is. It's also important that she is able to stay with Elsie because not only does that describe the relationship that she has with Elsie as a mentor but how she can't even confront her mother about the feelings that she has for Melanie. To me, I think it is weak of Melanie to dispose of Jeanette's love like that. She fell to the power of the masses so that she doesn't get persecuted amongst the crowd. Ahhh, I can say that I hated that scene where she gets exorcised like she had a demon inside of her.

Jeanette goes through the Ordeal in the middle of the story because she fights against the church which has raised her since she was young. She was chosen by God so when she gets persecuted from her church and exorcised in her own home, she confronts an orange demon that allows her to open up about who she really is but still refuses to give in to what the church want her to become. The literary element of imagery would be an important part of the chapter of Joshua. In the biblical story of Joshua, the Hebrews had surrounded the city of Jericho for seven days and had blown their trumpets and the walls had trembled down. Which shows the fight of how good triumphed over evil. In Jeanette's chapter of Joshua, her mother had betrayed her once and for all and that her walls had fallen down by blowing her own trumpet. This is a symbolism for how Jeanette is willing to destroy the walls that had confined her by blowing her own trumpet and leading her self to self-discovery and acceptance. In the story of the Battle of Jericho, the Hebrews get to the Promised Land and the Promised Land is where Jeanette will finally find her true self. In a Hero's Journey, I would consider this as the Road Back because Jeanette has come back to the church and she has started preaching and even teaching Sunday school. This is important because this is when the character has finally found her treasure amongst all the tribulations she's faced.

Winterson, Jeanette.  “Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit”. Publisher Group West: Great Britain. 1985.

Deuteronomy Response

Extremely bloody thankful that this next chapter is short because I am running out of things to say about old gal Jeanette. It's hard to write thoughtful and meaningful posts each time because guess what... I have to write not only one post but three more fantastical posts on top of all the ones I've already written. While it is good for me I would rather focus on writing the other essay that is currently due on Thursday. No amount of coronavirus will make up for the time that we missed. As she says everyone who tells a story tells it differently. There are many sides to it and depending on who's perspective it is, it is what is true to them. I kind of agree with her when she says about denying the past thing. But she relates all the past things that have happened in history to events that have happened in the Bible. For example, Noah and the Ark. It is hard to believe that man took two kinds of every animal and placed them in a boat without them each tearing and fighting each other to the death. If everyone outside of the boat died then are we to believe that Noah filled the land with just his children? It's all faith-based for sure. I got kind of lost in the end but I think what she says is true that you should make your own sandwich yet I feel as if that this chapter doesn't really belong in the book.

The literary element that I would like to emphasize in this chapter is Point of View/Perspective because not only is this chapter not being told by Jeanette or have anything related to Jeanette. This feels as if it is written in third person talking to the audience. Deuteronomy in the Bible is the book of law and instead of Jeanette giving us her set of laws, the author, Winterson starts to question histories and laws itself. She says, "Everyone who tells a story tells it differently, just to remind us that everybody sees it differently," (93) and I think that is important because she is a telling a story but she also says that it is a work of fiction and that it is uncertain what had happened in her life even though it could be true but there is no way of knowing. She emphasizes on the fact that knowing what to believe can build empires and create profit in some people's wallets. She describes how the Bible, history and the story of her life are all fiction meaning they are make-believe but also made with biasedness based on who exactly is telling the story. Which is why she states, "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" (95). This leads us to question whether or not if the need to follow the laws of the Bible is necessary since it is considered fiction.

Winterson, Jeanette.  “Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit”. Publisher Group West: Great Britain. 1985

Numbers Response

I personally have never had crazy dreams about getting married. Maybe a whole lot of falling from the sky and falling on the ground kind of dreams but not getting married. I think that the fact she is worried about marrying a pig is important. It's nice that she talks about a story that we can all relate to. Even I can relate to as a little girl thinking there would be a handsome prince out there for me. I never considered marrying a beast even on an accidental beast but Love is Blind (just like the Netflix show). I find it interesting how worried she is about marrying a beast. I feel like there are some things in life that you can't un-know. For example, Jeanette goes back and re-reads her mother's favorite book Jane Eyre because her mother tells Jeanette that Jane ends up with St John Rivers to do their missionary work. Instead, Jane goes back to stay with Mr. Rochester which completely changes what Jeanette believes about her mom. Kind of sad really because she then proceeds to listen to these old ladies talk about their unhappy marriages. I've struggled with wearing things I didn't want to wear when I was a kid way too many times so I can relate to Jeanette about that coat. Plus it was bright pink. I could never become that girly girl. It's just not in my bones. The fact that she gets offered a job makes me feel as if she is older now.

I think an important scene in this story is when Jeanette's coat rips and her mom goes with her to obtain a new one (78-79). Especially because of how she feels when she is wearing the coat. She relates it to the movie The Man in the Iron Mask. It is important to also note that her form of love that she has for Melanie is in the pure sense. She has a small crush for her as she constantly looks for her and feels unabashed about needing to get her to stay (83). Her mother forces her own observations on Jeanette and it makes it more complex for her because now she is starting to understand that she can't fit that mold that her mother wants her to fit. The more she talks about Melanie, the more unresponsive her mother becomes the idea of it (86). Which represents how black and white her mother believes in things. How she only believes in the good versus evil and the right and wrongs. Her mother also believes that love can just also be the cause of common symptoms. Her mother was so overcome with emotions for Pierre that she had done the deed and feeling so guilt-ridden, had gone to the doctors only to be diagnosed with a stomach ulcer (88). The final imagery that is extremely important is the storming of the winter palace (89). This refers to the storming of the conflict that Jeanette has headed her way.

Winterson, Jeanette.  “Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit”. Publisher Group West: Great Britain. 1985

Leviticus Response

I feel as if Jeanette's mother in Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit is kind of hypocritical because she says she has a wine glass for medicinal uses but is a devout Christian. I kind of find it funny that her friend Mrs. White took the wine glass so she could hear the neighbors fornicating. Like who does that? It's kind of creepy and intrusive (I couldn't think of a better word). The story got even better once they started singing hymns to church them out. From what I processed she has started to work for the funeral home and now she's doing her mother's bidding by throwing oranges on the corner. Oranges! Again! I don't really understand for the most part what they symbolize but they must be important. I think that it is interesting that the more self-aware she is, the longer her little stories get. I'm not laughing out loud about a man who wants a perfect woman who suddenly cries in the grass... I'm all about emotional men but wow. That's kind of oxymoronic. It's really difficult to achieve perfection so obtaining a perfect woman is kind of near to impossible. Oh boo hoo on this prince's 3 sections of perfection. No one is perfect and the fact that you want a perfect race is really a joke on him. Oh, I understood the reference that he had in the end about building a perfect person. He's talking about Frankenstein because Frankenstein had a bolt in his neck.

We are supposed to choose a specific literary element that we thought was prevalent in the scene. It is really hard to think about this short chapter of what I would consider as an important literary element. I would consider language because she creates a short story about perfection. Jeanette has her first theological disagreement and she expresses it by telling a short story about a prince who is searching for a perfect woman. There is a woman like this but he can't find her and asks the goose to help him. The goose says what he is looking for is impossible and the prince simply beheads him. The prince then goes on to write a paper about the perfection that is cut into three sections. An advisor says he's found the perfect woman who then refuses to marry him and she tells him that he'll be dead before he ever finds a perfect woman. The prince cuts off her head and buys a dozen oranges from a man who then said he'd give him a booklet on how to build a perfect person yet the only flaw is that they had a bolt-on their neck. Jeanette uses the word perfection a lot and I think it shows how she has a difficult time coming to terms that she won't ever be perfect. That she can't fill the roles that her mother and her church expect her to fill. That they are better off building a person or even Frankenstein to find what they are looking for. It symbolizes a woman that is even wise knows that there is no such thing as perfection.

Exodus Response

In Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit when the pastor at the church says that she is full of spirit to me it mean full of life and exuberant. I thought it was funny that the next scene where the pastor was telling everyone that she was so spirited and she hadn't even said a thing which made it even seem like she was extremely modest and that it was true. I often forget that she was very young in the story. Having the author be Jeanette and the character be Jeanette makes me feel like her voice should be much older. Especially when she starts to freak out about dying young. I feel as if the mother and Jeannette aren't very closely connected. She's having surgery and the mother is worried about the plumbing in the house. But her mother did write her a note with a bag of oranges saying, "The only fruit" (Winterson, 29). The mice are interesting but I want to understand their importance. Is someone going to be burnt alive? I like the sandwich inspection because they remind me of my younger days. Instead of inspecting it would be a lot of trade offs or sharing different kinds of snacks. I'm sad the kids bullied her just because she thinks differently and she ended up getting punished for being different. Though I have to say there is a point where you should let your child have a normal childhood. Who am I to judge at this point though? I like how instead of the mother punishing her she instead took Jeanette to the movies. I don't understand the Tetrahedron story. 

I believe an important imagery in the story is when Jeanette receives threw white mice in a box that is painted with flames (31) It is related to the story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abendago. In the Bible the story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abendago are thrown into a fiery furnace for refusing to bow down and worship the gold statue of king Nebuchadnezzar. Jeanette later on sees herself as Daniel (Belteshazzar) when she is questioned (41) about her beliefs. Exodus means exit and departure and the story is about the moment Jeanette leaves her home and is exposed to other ideas. Another important Character in this book that also relates to "the Hero's Journey" is Elsie Norris. She is part of Meeting the Mentor because she introduces Jeannette to other works of art and tells her while it is important to read the Bible it is alright to read other works of art like Jane Eyre. She is also there when Jeanette recovers from surgery and introduces her to the Goblin Market by Christina Rosetti. She teaches her valuable things for example, that while it is important to understand the outside world you also have to understand your world and your perspective that you have (Winterson, 32). In the end of Exodus Jeanette uses her imagination to weave a story about Tetrahedron and Isoscles and how Tetrahedron's last lesson is about emotion. All these things will lead to her understanding herself and just like how Jeanette doesn't fit in the normal school mold she will also not fit in the mold when it comes to her sexuality. She also does a lot of self discovery about her own emotions. 

Winterson, Jeanette.  “Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit”. Publisher Group West: Great Britain. 1985