BABE-BOLYAI UNIVERSITY, CLUJ-NAPOCA

FACULTY OF LETTERS
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE

FIVE FORBIDDEN FRUITS IN JEANETTE WINTERSONS NOVEL

ORANGES ARE NOT THE ONLY FRUIT

STUDENT:

PAPER ADVISER:

TUNYOGI ANDREA

LECTOR DR ALINA PREDA

MA BRITISH CULTURAL STUDIES

1ST YEAR

CLUJ NAPOCA JANUARY 2015

INTRODUCTION
The world which we live in is full of such curiosities that motivate a reasonable being to
speculate about them, ask questions, draw conclusions deconstruct to elements then reconstruct
to obtain a whole. The human mind is so complex, that nobody has ever succeeded in
discovering every tiny piece of its function. Most people usually go through life without thinking
much about these issues. But there is a category of people who start to question everything that
surrounds them. The process of knowledge starts with formulating questions. When there is a
question, there is also a research and finally an answer. Therefore, people who start asking
questions never stop at this point. They go through the process of discovering and finally draw
such conclusions that are worth to become public. These people are called writers, philosophers,
researchers, historians, scientists, and their way of thinking and also their final conclusions are
included mostly in books that they write. Therefore, books are very powerful. They have the
power to open the readers mind towards new horizons and urge him/her to ask the same
questions as the author, moreover to formulate their own ones and reinterpret the written issues
and draw personal conclusions.
There are many kinds of books, but let us narrow the pattern and focus on literary
writings. This also is a very wide field, but let us split it in two categories: books that are
accepted by a wide range of readers and are very popular, and the outcasts that are stigmatized
and clearly not so popular. Due to the fact that it is more challenging to observe the outcasts, let
us focus our attention on the latter category.
When someone is deliberately engaged in writing about controversial topics it seems to
be a challenge, not only for the writer but also for the reader. However, when the challenge is
high, the satisfaction is even higher. And obviously human nature is more interested in the
forbidden fruit even if it is bad. People who despise bad things the most are the ones who really
want to get in touch with them. But what are bad things? Who has the authority to classify
something as being bad? Wouldnt it be possible that the same thing is good if analysed from a

different perspective? Couldnt it be that the old woman in the picture is in fact the young
princess?1
In order to illustrate these issues, Ive chosen one of the most suitable novels. Without too much
knowledge about the novel, the title immediately raises a question: If oranges are not the only
fruit, then which are the other fruit? Somebody must claim that the oranges are in fact the only
fruit and somebody contradicts this affirmation, claiming that they are not the only one. This
suggests two things: to the voice who claims that oranges are the only fruit, the other fruits are
forbidden, therefore do not exist, whereas the other voice acknowledges the existence of those
fruit therefore they do exist. Starting from this idea, the central theme of the paper is going to be
the illustration of five forbidden fruits in Jeanette Wintersons novel. I will focus on five issues
that are considered to be forbidden, the attitude of the writer towards these issues and finally the
attitude of the reader. I try to symbolize each one with a fruit to continue the idea of the main
title.
THE FIRST FORBIDDEN FRUIT: GOLDEN APPLE
I have noticed that when women writers put themselves into their fiction, its called
autobiography. When men do it, such as Paul Auster or Milan Kundera its called meta-fiction.
(Winterson 2013, online interview)
The first forbidden fruit that is going to be analysed is fiction. When we read the novel,
we ask ourselves is it an autobiography or a fiction. Can we draw a line between these two
extremities and decide where the autobiographical character stops and the fictional one starts? It
is very simple to consider it autobiographical because there are some clues that lead us to this
conclusion: first person narrative2, the name of the main character is the same with that of the
author. But is this enough to consider it an autobiography? When the author is asked whether it is
an autobiography or not, she answers yes and no (Winterson 2013, online interview). But the
next part of the quotation which is the one mentioned above cannot be interpreted without
referring to gender roles. In other words, is it fiction a forbidden fruit to women writers? Cant
1 I refer here to those images where the same form reveals two different illustrations, depending
on the perspective from which we analyze them.
2 Except for the chapter entitled Deutheronomy where we have a third person narrative.
3

we consider this novel a meta-fiction if the woman writer puts herself into it? This is the barrier
which Jeanette wants to demolish with her novel. She is deliberately and constantly blurring the
lines between realism and fantasy (Mndez:13). This technique is also demonstrated by the
inclusion of the short fairy-tales in her novel. She deliberately constructs her fiction which
clearly indicates that the novel is a meta-fiction.
Consequently, the reader cannot separate the real events from fantasy, nor to approximate the
proportion in which they are present. So besides oranges, the golden apple really exists.
THE SECOND FORBIDDEN FRUIT: POMEGRANATE
A well-read woman is a dangerous creature. (Lisa Kleypas, online quotation)
A general concept about women is that of a housewife, who has nothing to do with such
concepts as intellectual development or open mindedness. Moreover, if this woman is born is a
strict religious community, the chance of such developments is minimal. Therefore the second
forbidden fruit is going to be the open mindedness.
In the novel, the seven year old main character, Jeanette, experiences these issues. She is
raised in a very strict religious community and her mother has a single destiny for her: to become
a missionary and spread the words of God. She had a strict and directed reading (Oranges 11)
from the Bible, moreover the books she was allowed to be read were often manipulated. 3
Therefore, she was meant to do whatever she was told, and never to question anything. But after
children grow up, they usually start to question the reality in which they live in. They start to
realize that things have other meanings too. The story mustnt necessarily have one ending. It
may have several ones.
Jeanettes mother considered these things bad and wanted to protect her daughter from
them. She even educated her at home and didnt send her to school to protect her from bad
external influences (Oranges 16). But can we protect somebody from the world? Isnt it the
world complex enough to reveal itself sooner or later? Many perspectives, many possibilities,
many options, solutions, problems, choices, ideas, orientations. This is what the open mind sees.
Why should be forbidden?

3 The sequence when she finds out that her mother had changed the ending of Jane Eyre saying
that Jane got married to St John and not to Mr. Rochester. (Oranges 73)
4

The novel highlights that these possibilities make one to accept oneself, to find ones
place in the world, by having a variety of options and chances. We are all different, so we need
all these possibilities to find the most suitable for us. So besides oranges, the golden apple and
the pomegranate really exist.

THE THIRD FORBIDDEN FRUIT: KIWANO

She4 have never heard of mixed feelings. There were friends and there were enemies. (Oranges
3)
In the previous subchapter we found out that life is not linear and doesnt have just one direction.
An open-minded person may discover all the possibilities that life has to offer. The second issue
is strongly related to this idea, moreover it is its continuation, its effect. This multiplicity has an
effect upon the feelings too. Therefore, we cannot say that a person has just one kind of feelings,
for example positive ones, and the other person possesses the negative ones. Consequently, the
third forbidden fruit is disorder.
Starting from the quotation above, Jeanettes mother clearly rejected the existence of
mixed feelings. Her life could not permit this kind of disorder. At this point it necessary to refer
to the symbolism of gender as well. It is generally known that order represents the positive male
values whereas disorder is often associated with negative female values. (Calvo Pascual 2000:
24) So the novel deconstructs the linear life and the order among feelings pointing out that there
is not a sharp line between positive and negative feelings, instead they often get mixed causing
disorder. This disorder however is part of our life, is part of Jeanettes life, even of her mothers
life, admitting it or not. It draws the readers attention again to the fact that there is no fact at all.
There is no sharp border and no strict category. Life is not full of carefully separated boxes as
many people may think, but rather of thing that are constantly in touch with each other, not
knowing their actual meeting point. So besides oranges, the golden apple, the pomegranate and
the kiwano really exist.

4 Jeanettes mother.
5

THE FOURTH FORBIDDEN FRUIT: PASSION FRUIT

Ive never understood why straight fiction is supposed to be for everyone, but anything with a
gay character or that includes gay experience is only for queers. (Winterson 2013, online
interview)
When we discover that we have mixed feelings, the borders start to blur. There is no
category that can remain untouched. Not even the category of different sexes. So the fourth
forbidden fruit is homosexuality. This is perhaps the most forbidden fruit of them all. The main
character was even exorcized to get rid of this demon (Oranges 105). Her relationship with
Melanie was openly rejected and repudiated.
If we analyze the novel more carefully, we may discover some clues that led to this
special attachment. Firstly, the presence of a dominant male is clearly missing. Her father is
almost never present and has a minimal role in the course of events. Secondly, she hears only
negative comments about marriage and men5. Her mother calls the relationship of the two
women who had a paper shop an unnatural passion (Oranges 7). But what she feels for Melanie
seems perfectly natural and comfortable so how can it be unnatural? Do you stay safe or do you
follow your heart? (Winterson 2013, online interview) is the question that the book addresses to
the reader. The reader may choose to stay in the box that he himself created, or try to view things
from a different perspective. And the accent is on viewing things not necessarily being implied in
it. As it has been mentioned before, everybody has the right to find their own place in the world,
wherever it may be.
Consequently, the novel highlights that different sex cannot be an indestructible border.
This is also part of the disorder which makes the world go round. So besides oranges, the golden
apple, the pomegranate, the kiwano and the passion fruit really exist.
THE FIFTH FORBIDDEN FRUIT: BANANA
The main character had to experience all the previous forbidden issues in order to grow up and
find her place in the world. This whole process had one goal: to find her personal identity. This is
the fifth forbidden fruit. Ones personal identity cannot be imposed by another person, as
Jeanettes mother could not control her daughters life after all. She finally moved from home
5 The woman who told her that she married a pig. (Oranges 69)
6

and started to live her own life, which was not her mothers but her own. Ones personal identity,
ones self, cannot be a unified one, as nothing in this world is unified or straight. The novel
therefore, tries to deconstruct this unified self (Calvo Pascual 2000: 21), and demonstrate that it
has so many components, so many directions. It is fluid rather than stable. So besides oranges,
the golden apple, the pomegranate, the kiwano, the passion fruit and the banana really exist.

CONCLUSION
Oranges are not the only fruit (Winterson: 1996). We can now draw this final conclusion. The
purpose of this paper was to highlight five issues from the novel that worth to be discussed.
Naturally the novel is full of such debatable topics. These were just a few examples to illustrate
its complexity.
The image is given to us. It is our decision what do we
want to see in it: the old woman, the young lady or both
at the same time.

WORKS CITED
Calvo Pascual, Mnika. A Feminine Subject in Postmodernist Chaos: Janette Winterson's
Political Manifest in Oranges are not the only Fruit. Revista Alicantina de Estudios Ingleses
13 (2000): 21-34. 24. Jan. 2015.
http://rua.ua.es/dspace/bitstream/10045/5328/1/RAEI_13_02.pdf
Mndez, Francesca Castano. The Limitless Self: Desire and Transgression in Jeanette
Wintersons Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit and Written on the Body. 24. Jan. 2015.
http://diposit.ub.edu/dspace/bitstream/2445/11225/1/The_Limitless_Self_THESIS
%20%281%29.pdf
Kleypas, Lisa quotation. 2015 Goodreads Inc. 24. Jan. 2015.
http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/226681-a-well-read-woman-is-a-dangerous-creature
Winterson, Jeanette official website. Jeanette Winterson 2013. 24. Jan. 2015.
http://www.jeanettewinterson.com/book/oranges-are-not-the-only-fruit/
Winterson, Jeanette. Oranges are not the only fruit. London: Vintage Edition, 1996.
Image from: http://amikiscsapatunk.mindenkilapja.hu/html/18123909/render/optikai-csalodasok