Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit

Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit - Jeanette Winterson (1983)

Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit is a definite struggle for modern identity. The entirety of the book is woven with black humour, opposing and antagonistic themes of religion and sexuality and twisted tales of folklore. There is an ambiguous setting for the novel; it is somewhere between the contemporary and the traditional which mirrors the themes involved. Jeanette’s struggle for identity was inevitable. It was always going to be a struggle because she had an identity forced upon her by her God-driven Mother who pre-determined her path in life. Perhaps all would have gone to plan if Jeanette had not gone to school and been exposed to “normal” life. Or perhaps if she’d led a life less sheltered from men and sex her choices would have been different “I would cross seas and suffer sunstroke and give away all I have, but not for a man, because they want to be the destroyer and never be destroyed.”