THE IMPORTANCE OF ALLUSION AND REFERENCE IN THE OPENING CHAPTER

GENESIS

Consider the following aspects:

The opening paragraph. How does it connect with the novel? What is its effect?
The opening paragraph is the main part of the first chapter because it introduces the main characters of the novel (Jeanette and her mother through Jeanette's account) and it describes some of their everyday life. Its effect is to make the reader understand the context of the novel and to dip into the story.

How does the film version start?

The film starts with a child and a girl holding hands, who are going to the gipsy fair. To tell the truth both the child and the girl are Jeanette.
As soon as they come to the fair they see many people (the mother, the priest...) on a merry-go-round, but the two Jeanette are attracted to a person, who is the adult figure of Jeanette. Suddenly the child is taken by a gypsy and she is separated from the girl. The gypsy predicts her she will never marry.

What is its effect?

Its effect is to cause the reader great anxiety by watching these images and by listening to a disturbing music accompanied on riotous laugh. In addition it creates curiosity because the watcher does not understand the meaning of this scene.

Keeping in mind that the chapter is called Genesis, what does it suggest about the setting and the context of the novel?
The title of the chapter "Genesis" suggests us a link with the Bible. Indeed the chapter is about the creation of Jeanette's life and education. The writer tells about the early years of her childhood, when she was adopted. In addition she has been chosen by her mother for her mission as God elect the Jewish as the ‘Chosen People'. In addition it suggests us that the setting is the basic one, around which the whole affair develops.

Characterization/s

Make a note of all the facts that you know about Jeanette's mother.

Right from the start the reader can understand that Jeanette's mother is very obsessed with religion. Her unilateral point-of- view immediately emerges: to her are enemies and friends, there are never half-measures. In addition she is very set in one's way: she always prays in the same way, she always listens to the World-Service, she always tells Jeanette religious stories.. Very important is the reason why she adopted Jeanette: she wanted to find a missionary child whom she could train according to her desires.

How has her character been built up?

Her character is built up through Jeanette's narration.

What kind of a person do you think she is?

I think she is a very hypocritical person. She tries to hide her past, maybe not very different from her daughter's one, following her obsession for religion and condemning the difference.
How many paragraphs begin with the words "My mother". What may all this mean or suggest?
6 paragraphs begins with the words "My mother", it means that she is a central person in the novel.

What facts do you know about Jeanette at this early stage?

At this early stage we know that Jeanette lives with her mother and father, since she had been adopted. She is growing following her mother's education, that is very religious and strict. As a consequence at the beginning Jeanette's thoughts are those of her mother.

What sort of person do you think her to be?

I think that at the beginning she is entirely dominated by her mother and her mother's thoughts and ideas. She has not the possibility to have other points of view because she only know her mother's one.

How is your judgement affected by the fact that it is Jeanette who is telling the story in a first-person narrative?

I think that Jeanette Winterson wanted to makes the story more credible, as if she was writing an autobiography (but it is not so)

What significance might there be in the story of the gipsy and her palm reading?

I guess that the novelist inserted the story of the gipsy because she wanted to anticipate what will really happen in the story, in order to make the reader curious and verify if the gipsy's prophecy will really come true.

Why do you suppose Jeanette is attracted to the gipsy in the first place?

I suppose she is attracted to the gipsy because she is different, she is not what her mother considers a good think. Therefore everything uncommon creates curiosity to Jeanette because she does not know another world, except for her mother's one.

The short insert story about the princess and the moths. How does the story connect to the main story about Jeanette, her mother's ambition and her calling? What parallels can you draw?

The story about the princess is connected to Jeanette: she is as the princess very sensitive to what surround her. It follows that the mother (as the hunchback) intervenes and gives her the alternative, that is religion, calling and educating her in order to survive to world's pains.