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