oranges

Write a critical appreciation of the opening of ‘Oranges are not the only fruit’ looking closely at form structure and language. Comment on how the extract relates to features of the novel as a whole.

The opening section of Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit introduces protagonist Jeanette to the novel using a first person narrative style. The descriptive passage shows her mother’s sense of antagonism and foreshadows conflict of the mother daughter relationship experienced later on in the novel.

The chapter called ‘Genesis’ lays the backdrop for the novel as this is the name of the first book in the bible. This indicates that the chapter will be religious. As Genesis in the bible tells the creation of the world and God, it can be seen that the opening chapter of the novel will be similar to this, telling of Jeanette’s so-called ‘creation’ and regarding God who can be compared to Jeanette’s Mother in this circumstance. The fact that her “Father likes to watch the wrestling” and her “mother likes to wrestle” shows the power that her mother holds over people and the dominance of her character. She appears strong both physically and mentally. The passage shows her as a powerful being and Jeanette’s narration backs this up.

The use of the two person narration shows different sides to Jeanette. Her childlike immature constructs such as the imagery of “sitting on a sheep” whilst her mother told her the story of “the sacrificial lamb” appears humorous to the reader and shows Jeanette’s naivety as a young child. She doesn’t seem to understand her mother’s actions and appears to ‘obey’ her. “As soon as... I put the kettle on”, this shows how Jeanette is under her mother’s routine and knows what she wants, when she wants it. This character contrasts greatly to Jeanette as an older female, where she appears more ‘clued-up’ about life and her mother’s personality and ways. As an older woman Jeanette realises that it’s best not to argue with her mother as she knows she will never prevail in a confrontation with her, “She was wrong as far as we were concerned... that’s really what mattered” tells the reader that Jeanette feels it is better to accept her opinions rather than argue with them.

The isolated sentences before the list show Jeanette’s feelings on this topic and her mother’s emotions. “She had never heard of mixed feelings” immediately gives the reader a sense of her mother’s personality and her interaction with other characters, that of little emotion and powerful personality traits.

The simple list of Jeanette’s Mothers likes and dislikes shows her black and white outlook of the world, reflecting her extreme nature. In her eyes there is good and bad, no in-between. The fact that the great concept of “God” appears next to “Slug Pellets” almost belittles her religious beliefs and puts her views of the world into perspective. The fact that Jeanette is not included in her mother’s list of friends is significant to later on in the novel, this representing the confrontation the two characters have. These huge sweeping statements show that she does not care what people think of her. This being hypocritical as we know later on the in the novel she refers to Jeanette as “Demon-possessed” due to the church seeing Jeanette’s actions as “unnatural passions”.

“Rest of the World” set into capital letters seems as though it is an individual or a small set of people. It isolates Jeanette and her mother and makes it seem as though the rest of the world is against them, this showing her mother’s defensive and highly strung nature. Her religion makes her mother appear weary to everything around them furthermore introduces the character to the novel, slowly painting a picture of her personality.

Jeanette’s mother appears unsympathetic in her emotions towards life, more specifically Jeanette as she describes herself as “the next best thing” regarding what her mother wanted concerning the “begetting” of children. This statement foreshadows the future separation of the characters as Jeanette moves away as a cause of their strong conflicts. It shows Jeanette’s mothers reasons for adopting are not maternal, rather that it’s what the Christian religion believes is right. The fact that Jeanette’s mother was “bitter about the Virgin Mary getting there first” seems childish and almost humorous. Her astringent emotions towards this seem as though she thinks of herself as being on a similar level to the Virgin Mary herself, showing that she thinks highly of herself.
The theme of Religion in the passage is strong throughout and the reader immediately senses that Jeanette’s mother has very strong views on the matter. In her ‘list’, The Devil being her biggest enemy and God being her ‘best friend’ shows her priorities and life and how she perceives the world. It’s clear to see throughout the whole novel, not just the passage that religion is more important than anything to Jeanette’s mother and she views it as a very prominent part in her life. The passage states that she “allowed no one into the parlour until 10 o-clock” this confirms her need for dominance and control. It’s also shown that Jeanette’s mother likes her daughter to take an active role in religion and Jeanette describes this as being quizzed every Sunday about stories in the bible. “My mother liked me to win” this shows her mother’s competitive side and need to be better than others around her.
At the end of the passage the reader is faced with a huge contradiction compared to the opening few words. “Like most people” gives you the sense that the following is going to be about a typical family and their life, yet the reader is faced with a passage full of strong role reversal characters. Jeanette’s mother’s husband is referred to as just that: the husband. At no point does Jeanette refer to him as her ‘father’. The passage challenges the normal conventions of family life and shows a different viewpoint to the reader; that of an adopted child, a powerful domineering mother and a strongly religious family.

Poppy Adams 12DDA
982 words