The opening paragraph

How does it connect with the novel? What is its effect?

It aims at introducing the context in which the main character Jeanette lived. It does not look like other novels’ opening scene, it forecasts the originality of the book.

How does the film version start?

Two girls are walking together in a funfair, where some people appear and all of them are enjoying themselves. The place is noisy and the girls hold each other hands.

What is its effect?

The start conveys a sense of confusion and dismay.

How many references are made to the Bible or have a religious Christian contex?

Some religious references dominate the chapter. The adoption of the little girl is seen as a religious event: indeed her mother wants her to become a missionary and disseminate the religious principles in the people.

Second, Jeanette’s mother disdains sex and considers the adoption as an ‘immaculate conception’ because she had a child without having sex. Therefore, the mother can be compared to the virgin Mary and the child could be linked to Christ.

Finally, after Jeanette's mother found her, Jeanette cried out for seven days and seven nights: it reminds the period in which Christ stayed in the desert while the Devil tempted Him.

Keeping in mind that the chapter is called Genesis, what does it suggest about the setting and the context of the novel?

The title is strictly linked to one of the book of the Bible; it suggests to tell about the origins of something, and it may be set in the place where everything originated.

Characterization/s

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

According to Jeanette's mother, all over the world there are enemies and friends. Right from the start she is presented as a selective and rational woman.

She refuses sex, and it is the reason why she adopted Jeanette.

She prays everyday and spends her time by teaching to her daughter the religious principles. She is very religious and strict for what concerns religion.

How has her character been built up?

Her character has been built up on hypocrisy and, on the other hand, on religious beliefs. The character is strongly and continually in contradiction with itself.

What kind of a person do you think she is?

Jeanette’s mother is presented as a strict and controlled woman; right from the start the writer puts into focus her strong personality and her authority. Her character is predominant, as the first two lines of the chapter suggest. She seems showing to be a determined and strong-willing woman on the surface, but she may hide a sensitive personality and a tormented past.

How many paragraphs begin with the words "My mother"? What may all this mean or suggest?

Four paragraphs begin with the words “My mother”. It suggests the predominance if the character throughout the novel, but also her enormous influence on Jeanette’s way of thinking and actions.

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

First of all, she is totally dependent on her mother, she is very attached to her. His father is just a figure on the background, while he mother influences everything she says or does. She is well formed for what concerns religion, even if she does not seem to really know why she needs all that religious knowledge.

What sort of person do you think her to be? How is your judgement affected by the fact that it is Jeanette who is telling the story in a first-person narrative?

She manages to convey perfectly her thoughts and feelings, because she is in direct contact with the reader. It suggests the idea of an autobiographic novel, although it is not.

What significance might there be in the story of the gipsy and her palm reading? Why do you suppose Jeanette is attracted to the gipsy fair in the first place?

The gipsy may anticipate Jeanette’s unordinary sexuality (lesbianism). The little girl is attracted to the gipsy fair because she is curious about her future, like every child could be.

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?

The story seems to aim at conveying that if people are busy in doing something, they do not mind too much about vain things. The little girl Jeanette might feel like a ‘princess’ in the castle, compelled to do what others want. Indeed, she had to be what her mother had established before.