1166 Winterson, Jeanette
She is portrayed almost as an avenging angel, end-
ing her prayers with “Vengeance is mine saith the
Lord.” It is also interesting to note that there are
other lesbians in the novel, such as Miss Jewsbury,
the two women who run the paper shop, and Elsie,
but they do not form a community at all. There is a
sense that homosexuality, because it is so unaccept-
able, compels one to be alone. It is also possible that
in presenting the lesbian as a lone figure, Winterson
wants to resist the homogenization of the lesbian
experience so as to maintain its uniqueness.
Wern Mei Yong
reLIGIon in Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit
Jeanette Winterson does not deal with religion
directly but is concerned with the way people inter-
pret religion and the word of God to suit their own
purposes. In this novel, it is used as a means of mak-
ing sense of the world, particularly the moral world.
This is seen in the way Jeanette’s mother, Louie, and
the wider religious community continually use their
religious beliefs as a benchmark for what is right or
wrong. Jeanette’s mother is almost obsessed with
religion. She compares her adoption of Jeanette to
the immaculate conception of Jesus by the Virgin
Mary:
She had a mysterious attitude toward the
begetting of children; it wasn’t that she
couldn’t do it, more that she didn’t want to
do it. She was very bitter about the Virgin
Mary getting there first. So she did the next
best thing and arranged for a foundling. That
was me.Louie’s refusal to engage in sexual activity sug-
gests frigidity, which may also describe her attitude
toward others. She is unbending in her moral stan-
dards and unyielding in the self-righteous way she
perceives the world, narrowly and strictly according
to the word of God. She is even willing to give up
her daughter, forcing her to leave home. As the novel
comes to a close, Jeanette describes Louie hunched
over her radio, like an obedient and diligent soldier
of God: “This is Kindly Light calling Manchester,
come in Manchester, this is Kindly Light.” Even the
message she sends out recalls military jargon.
With a mother so devoted to God, Jeanette’s
upbringing is very much influenced by religion.
However, rather than conforming strictly to what
she is taught, there are a few instances in the novel
where we see Jeanette forming her own special rela-
tionship with and understanding of God and the
Bible. At times, these are in conflict with that which
is accepted by her religious community. First, and
most obviously, she compares her love for Melanie to
her love for God. There is nothing sinful or shame-
ful in the love she bears Melanie, and therefore she
feels no need to hide from God. This is seen in the
way both girls continue to go to church and engage
in Bible study together. Finally, when they are found
out, and Jeanette is asked if she loves the Lord,
she replies, “Yes, I love them both.” The church, of
course, thinks otherwise, and Pastor Finch tells her
fiercely that she cannot love them both.
Another instance where Jeanette’s religious
beliefs counter those of the church is in her dif-
ferent interpretations of some of the Bible’s stories.
This is apparent even before her homosexuality is
discovered. In the first chapter, Jeanette goes into
the Sunday School Room and begins making Bible
scenes with some Fuzzy Felt: “I was just beginning
to enjoy a rewrite of Daniel in the lions’ den when
Pastor Finch appeared. I put my hands into my
pockets and looked at the lino.” The action of plac-
ing her hands into her pockets and looking at the
floor suggest a degree of guilt, and that what she
has done might be wrong and perhaps even sin-
ful. Pastor Finch sees the model, and we learn that
Jeanette’s version shows Daniel being eaten by the
lions. When she is questioned, she quickly replies
that she had wanted to create the story of Jonah
being swallowed by the whale, and because there
were no whales, she had to use lions instead. The
fact that she has to hide what she has done from
the pastor, as though having engaged in a forbid-
den act, again tells us the strict and narrow sense in
which the church interprets the biblical word. This
is further emphasized by the pastor’s petty refusal
of a child’s wish to exercise her imaginative powers,
even in a moment of play. Pastor Finch immediately
tells her to set the story right. This also illustrates
how authoritarian and restrictive the religious com-
munity can be.