ORANGES ARE NOT THE ONLY FRIUT

Jeanette Winterson entitle each chapter of her book “Oranges are not the only fruit” taking the names from the Old Testament; indeed the first chapter is named Genesis. The term Genesis is significant because it means origin and generation. In the Bible, Genesis deals with the beginnins of the world and the creation of men , likewise the first chapter of Jeanette Winterson’s book is about Jeanette’s story, her relationship with her mother and her family background.

Jeanette’s mother is obsessed with religion, she has a strong personality and she imposes her rules and beliefs to Jeanette who is like a slave. The intelligent reader can consider Jeanette’s mother like a God:she imposes her beliefs and way of living. In addiction, the woman refuses sex that’s why she adopted the little child Jeanette. This situation can be compared to Mary when she acquired a child without having sex. This element is significant because it underlines the parallelism between Bible and the first chapter of the book. Jeanette can be considered a chosen child because she has to develop her mother’s religion becoming a missionary girl.

Going on reading the book, the novellist adds a story which contributes to add meaning to Jeanette’s story. It deals with the life of a princess which changed when she started to work and do something useful: she feels satistied. Likewise, Jeanette has to do what her mother wants and she can’t rebel. That’s why the reader  understands that Jeanette can be compared to the princess: the little child has to do something useful in order to occupy her hours and forget her situation.

The second chapter is named Exodus: this word recall to the story of the flight of Jewish from Egypt. This chapters contains similar themes. Jeanette goes to school and she discovers a new world, full of different ideas and way of thinking. In this situation she understands that she may not always keep with her mother's ideas. Starting from situation the little child begin to develop her own ideas that are in contraddiction with mother’s beliefs.