Analysis of the structure of J. Winterson’s novel

Jeanette Winterson’s novel Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal has a very peculiar structure. The novel begins with the dedication to J. Winterson’s three mothers, followed by the table of contents which shows the division into chapters of the novel. It is interesting that the index has been put at the beginning of the novel, and not at its end, as usually happens: this may be a choice of the writer intended to focus the reader’s attention on the structure, which therefore acquires a great importance. The novel is composed of 15 chapters, each one identified by a title. The titles are generally ambiguous and not very clear at a first glance: for example, “This appointment takes place in the past” blends together the idea of future (you make an appointment when you want to see a person in the future) and past (as suggested by the title itself). Since the titles do not permit to predict the development of the story, probably J. Winterson’s purpose was to make the reader guess about the possible link between every title and the relating chapter.

The succession of the chapters is broken by an “intermission” and a “coda”. Both are located in the final part of the novel; the “intermission” is indeed a very short pause between the chapters, where the narration is suddenly interrupted by a reflection. This may lead the intelligent reader to reflect about the aim of the intermission, and its link with the previous and following chapter.

Indeed, just at the end of the previous chapter, J. Winterson describes her ultimate break with her mother, when she left home after the “pineapple” incident. In the following chapter, the writer recalls when she came across an old piece of paper which turned out to be a baby MOT, an event that later caused her to fall into depression, but also to start a quest for her biological mother.

Thus the intermission plays the role of a bridge between the two great parts of the novel: before, there is the fight between the writer and Mrs Winterson’s maniacal and fanatic world; after, there is J. Winterson’s fight against herself, a struggle which eventually led her to a suicide attempt, but also to the final reconciliation to her own mind and her biological mother.

However, there cannot be a definitive “healing of the wound”; since we cannot escape our past, the coda puts together the first part of the novel, with Mrs Winterson’s foolish fancies, and the second part, with the final meeting between Jeanette and her mother. So it is clear that the coda is not just a simple conclusion of the novel, but it is the glue that attaches the two parts of J. Winterson’s novel and life into a single continuous piece.

Finally, it must be pointed out that all these conclusions can be reached by the reader only when he has already finished reading the novel. This reinforces the idea that we can see the real consistence of our life only when we have reached a sufficiently advanced position, and this is what Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal is: Jeanette Winterson’s mature reflection about her life, a reflection she was still unable to do at the time of Oranges.