Oranges are not the only fruit by Jeanette Winterson explores the themes of homosexuality and relationships influenced by difference. Throughout this novel, it is clear that there are symbols that carry the overall meaning of this piece. Jeanette, the protagonist, discovers that she is a lesbian, which is complicated by the fact that she comes from a strict religious background. The symbol of the orange is regularly mentioned in the novel, from beginning to end. Readers can easily see what the orange represents: the dogma and structure by which she should, ideally, lead her life. It is seen time and again that the symbol of an orange only emerges when Jeanette reaches a difficult period in her life, showing that oranges represent the life she should lead, but ends up going in another direction. Jeanette also references fairy tales in this novel, which also represent Jeanette's journey to escape her mother's opinions. Ultimately, the symbols present in Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit effectively represent Jeanette's exploration for a life of liberation rather than a life bounded by religion. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Oranges are first introduced to the novel when Jeanette's mother, who supports Christian values ​​and refuses to go against them, tells Jeanette that "[Oranges are] the only fruit" ( Winterson 39). In the book, when Jeanette is in the hospital, it says that her mother always sent her a letter with a couple of oranges. His mother had only one point of view on fruit: oranges were the only ones worth eating. Likewise, her mother also had only one outlook on life: to live according to God's will. She raised her daughter to be a missionary and sees no other way to live life than to live the life God would want that she lived. Sees people as good or bad; there is no middle ground. Throughout the novel, readers see how his mother dedicates her life to who she believed was her creator; she gave him credit for the good things that had happened to her. He says in the novel, "Listen to what the Lord did for me this week. [I] needed eggs, the Lord sent them to me. [I] had a fit of colic, the Lord took them away from me. [I] always prayed two hours a day" (Winterson 32). In his eyes there was only one way to live life, in the service of God, as if there was only one fruit to eat, oranges. As Jeanette's mother, she attempts to impose her belief system on her daughter because she wants her daughter to be "a missionary child, a servant of God" (Winterson 14). At the beginning of the novel readers can see how religion dictates their entire lives; it is part of their daily thinking and daily activities. Jeanette's mother imposes a repressive system that prevents her daughter from doing anything ungodly. Oranges are treated the same way. Just as religion is used in this novel to navigate life and direct one's journey, oranges are offered when Jeanette is in a state of confusion and uncertainty. When Jeanette is in the hospital and her mother leaves her to go home, Jeannette thinks, "What was she doing? I started crying. My mother looked horrified and reached into her bag and gave me an orange. I peeled it. comfort me" (Winterson 36). It seems that orange resembles religion for family; it's like an anchor, something that stabilizes them and makes them feel safe. In that particular scene, readers realize that Jeanette's mother keeps oranges in her bag, just like she used to wearalways have a Bible with you. Oranges, like the Bible, seem to be a source of comfort, a part of a life that offers feelings of security, warmth and familiarity. When Jeanette starts going to school, she begins to realize that other people are different and have different beliefs, contrary to her own. This makes her defensive of her religion, protecting and defending it. In one particular scene, the children are told to write down what they did in the summer and present it. Jeanette states, "It was all the same. Fishing, swimming, picnicking, Walt Disney" (Winterson 49). When it is his turn to present, he tells the class about his church camp. Her account of what happens is mocked by the class, and Jeanette tells her mother that she wishes she didn't go to school again, in which her mother responds, "You must. Here, have an orange" (Winterson 51). At this point in the novel, Jeanette still lives in the world of "oranges", where she lives confined to a single lifestyle (and continues to eat only one fruit). However, he is also starting to learn about other people and how there are other ways to live life. It is from these instances that readers can see how these oranges symbolize the life that Jeannette's mother wants her to live, under the dominant ideology that serves God. She represents her mother's values, beliefs, and system that must be followed . Her strict mother claims that oranges are the only fruit, who always offers oranges to her daughter, but does not help in any other way in terms of emotionally satisfying Jeanette's needs. As the novel progresses, however, the situation begins to change. Jeanette begins to discover a life outside of religion and begins to fall in love with a girl named Melanie, who she welcomes into her church. When the church finds out, it organizes an intervention. While Jeanette is sitting in a room, she begins talking to an imaginary "orange demon", which is probably an orange. On page 138, it says, "Resting on the coffee table was the orange demon. 'Everyone has a demon, as you rightly observed,' began [the orange]" (Winterson 138). The orange and Jeanette talk about demons and whether or not they are evil, in which the orange responds that demons are not evil, “They're just different” (Winterson 138). At this point, Jeanette begins to accept that there are other things besides religion that exist in the world. When he was young, his ideals were those of his mother - now he begins to form his own ideas and interprets the world in a different way than his mother. The way Jeanette talks to this orange demon makes it seem like she isn't afraid of the demon, and that maybe not all demons are necessarily as bad as her mother would have her believe. When church members come to make Jeanette repent of her sins (lesbianism), she immediately agrees. However, she refuses to leave this demon behind: it is still there with her throughout the chapter. This proves that he lied to church members about repentance; she is more courageous as she chooses to live her own life rather than the life the church wants her to lead. Additionally, her independence is shown through a quote where her mother offers oranges to Jeanette. Jeanette says, "The skin hung stubbornly, and I soon found myself panting, angry and defeated. How about grapes or bananas?" (Winterson 144). At this point, we can see Jeanette's views change dramatically from a divine worldview to a more secular and independent one. Oranges are seen again and again as representing the harsh, overbearing world that Jeanette's mother imposes on her daughter. In one case, Melanie, the girl who shared a relationship with Jeanette, was sent away for having an improper relationship with Jeanette. Melanie chose church overJeanette, agrees to move away and refuses a relationship with Jeanette. On page 155, when Jeanette sees Melanie at the bus stop again, Melanie offers Jeanette an orange, to which Jeanette replies no. This shows not only that Jeanette rejects an orange, but also everything that the orange represents, namely spirituality and the rules that her mother wants her to live by. Oranges aren't the only symbol that represents Jeanette's journey from living a life like this to her mother's dogmatic views of living a life of her own. The chapters in this novel include interesting fairy tales that show how Jeanette evolves from living in a world full of oranges to a world full of various fruits. In the first chapter, Jeanette talks about her family and how her mother expects her to become a missionary, a daughter of God. She then refers to a fairy tale, in which a princess meets a hunchback who tells her that she "wished to die, but not could because of his many responsibilities” (Winterson 13). The hunchback asks the princess if she can take on her responsibilities, and the princess responds by saying yes. At this point, readers are still unaware of what this fable means or symbolizes. However, once you read further, you can see how this relates to the religion-bound life that Jeanette and her mother lead. Her mother believes she has many responsibilities, such as composing songs for the festival or preaching the word of God. Like the princess, Jeanette's mother left her old life to devote herself to a life of responsibility serving God. Like oranges , symbolizes the only way of life. In chapter 3, Jeanette hears a story from her pastor about perfection and how one man lived his life perfectly before his fall. Jeanette disagrees with her pastor's idea of ​​perfection and imagines a myth in which a prince is looking for a perfect wife. He writes a book, one chapter concerns "the need to produce a world full of perfect beings. A perfect race. An exhortation to concentration" (Winterson 80). He finds a woman who meets his standards of perfection, but she is smarter than him and refuses to marry him. He finds that the woman “was indeed perfect, but she was not flawless” (Winterson 83). The woman states that what the prince seeks, that is, absolute perfection, does not exist. In response, the prince beheads her. This myth suggests that Jeanette doesn't agree with everything her pastor says. It foreshadows the fact that she will not be able to be "perfect" in the eyes of her mother or her church. At the end of this myth, the prince is offered oranges, which once again represent the resolute outlook on life. Another myth comes into play when her mother and church members discover that Jeanette is a lesbian. His world begins to change dramatically, as he discovers that he still loves God and the Church, but he also loves Melanie. The church members argue that it cannot be so, because if Jeanette loves Melanie, it means that she does not love God. In this chapter, Jeanette imagines a man named Sir Perceval and how he lived comfortably in Camelot. Likewise, Jeanette lived comfortably in her mother's home, surrounded by religious people and a church that was like an anchor for her. However, in the myth, Perceval says that he cannot stay in Camelot because otherwise he will not find what he is looking for. Likewise, Jeanette cannot continue to live by the rules of the church if she wants to find her identity and true self. Once again, this myth represents the journey that Jeanette is taking and how her life is changing, just like the character in the myth. It seems that the myths and Jeanette's life are parallel and very similar. The final myth in the last chapter of this book summarizes the journey of.