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.