A woman steps into the pulpit and begins to preach. Her words are compelling and moving, and many believe she speaks from the Spirit. She is a woman of faith who aspires to fulfill her mother's desire to become a missionary. She is intelligent and pious. And according to her congregation, she is an abomination. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why violent video games should not be banned"? Get an original essay This talented preacher is Jeanette, the protagonist of Jeanette Winterson's "offbeat, unconventional, and often comical" novel "Oranges Are Not the only fruit” (Merriam-Webster 1207). Like Winterson herself, the book's protagonist grew up in a climate of religious fanaticism. His family's slick of OLD TESTAMENT DEEDS is just one indication of his unwavering dedication to biblical fundamentalism. But just as the word “Bible” does not mean “a book,” but “a collection of books,” so “Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit” is not a story but a collection of stories. Ranging from the ironic to the fanciful, these anecdotes tell not only the story of Jeanette's life, but also a story about storytelling itself. Through postmodern use of narrative frames, Winterson constructs and deconstructs her own narrative and, in doing so, she constructs for Jeanette an escape from the trappings of religious fanaticism. “Oranges” is a book brimming with religious symbolism. Obviously, the chapters are built on a biblical framework, each named after a book of the Bible. In the first chapter, Genesis, Jeanette recounts her birth in the manner of the Messiah: Her mother, not wanting to conceive a child in the usual way, “followed a star until it came to settle above of an orphanage, and in this place there was a cradle. , and in this cradle, a child. A kid with too much hair” (Winterson 10). But there, the symbolism is only just beginning. Jeanette says her mother “took the child away for seven days and nights” (Winterson 10). The phrase echoes a biblical passage: “They sat with [Job] on the ground seven days and seven nights” (Job 2:13) – and includes the symbolic number seven, the number “of completion and perfection” (Ferguson). 154). The mystical nature of the number is of ancient origin (Sahibzada) and also appears elsewhere in the novel, such as when Pastor Finch asks young Jeanette how old she is and she replies, "Seven" (Winterson 11). “Ah, seven o’clock,” he said. “How blessed are the seven days of creation, the seven-branched lampstand, the seven seals” (Winterson 11). But also how cursed it is, he thunders, because “the demon can return SEVEN TIMES” (Winterson 12). And in fact, according to the pastor, it comes back seven times more when Jeanette reveals herself to be a lesbian for the second time (Winterson 131). At the same time, “seven ripe oranges” appear on the windowsill (Winterson 131). Seven is also the number of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, the deadly sins and the cardinal virtues. Some of the novel's biblical allusions are more direct, such as the amusing reference to Elsie's three mice in a flaming cage as Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego (Winterson 31) – three characters from the Book of Daniel – and the same reference to the name of the three ravens of the sorcerer (Winterson 145). But some of the book's biblical allusions are more subtle: "And so, being sensible, the collector of trinkets will surround himself with dead things and think of the past when he lived and moved and existed" (Winterson 95). The reference is to Acts: “For in him we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28). This weaving of religious words and symbols into his novel is undoubtedly aa byproduct of Winterson's evangelical upbringing. His parents belonged to the Pentecostal faith, which believes that the Bible is literally true in all things, that it is "inerrant" (United Pentecostal Church International). By declaring the Bible infallible, the Church makes it a substitute for God – a form of idolatry called “bibliolatry” (Gomes 36). As John Shelby Spong says in his book Saving the Bible from Fundamentalism, this is a comforting belief: “Those whose religious security is rooted in a literal Bible do not want that security disrupted. They are not happy when facts challenge their biblical understanding or when nuances are introduced into the text or when they are forced to deal with contradictions or changing ideas. The Bible, as they understand it, shares the permanence and certainty of God, convinces them that they are right, and justifies the enormous fear and dread. even the negativity that skims so close to the surface in fundamentalist religion. For biblical literalists, there is always an enemy to overcome in mortal combat” (Spong 3). When Jeanette's lesbian love affair with Melanie comes to light at church, Jeanette becomes an adversary in this mortal battle. As late as 1977, the Pentecostal Church stated that it disapproved of "liberal groups within Christianity that accept 'the so-called gay rights movement as a legitimate way of life' and condemned the homosexuality as “vile and unnatural”. , unbecoming and an abomination in the sight of God” (ReligiousTolerance.org). The words of the denomination here are taken from Paul's epistle to the Romans (Romans 1:26-27). Harvard College chaplain Peter Gomes explains views like this in terms of fear. Fear is “at the heart of homophobia, as it was at the heart of racism,” and religion is “a moral fig leaf that [hides] naked prejudice” (Gomes 166). Gomes adds that "no credible argument against homosexuality or homosexuals can be made from the Bible unless one chooses to read Scripture in a way that simply maintains existing prejudices against homosexuality and homosexuals. The combination of ignorance and prejudice under the guise of morality makes the religious community, and its abuse of Scripture in this regard, itself morally culpable” (Gomes 147). Jeanette's congregation responds to the announcement of her continued homosexuality by rethinking their role in the Church. overall and prohibiting him from having “influential contacts” with other parishioners (Winterson 134). Here again, they use the Bible to support an existing prejudice: "The real problem, it seemed, was going against the teaching of Saint Paul and allowing women to exercise power in the Church” (Winterson 133). The Bible says, after all, that “it is shameful for a woman to speak in church” (1 Corinthians 14:35). Jeanette's mother undoubtedly thinks of this verse and others like it when she stands up in church and says that "the message belonged to men" (Winterson 133). It would seem that this would be an opportunity for moral clarity, which would appeal to Jeanette's mother, who "had never heard of mixed feelings." There were friends and there were enemies” (Winterson 3). And Jeanette had become the enemy. Convinced that it is possible to love another woman and God at the same time, Jeanette ends up reacting by leaving the congregation and going alone. But Jeanette the character is also Jeanette the author: Winterson's book is largely autobiographical. Author Jeanette writes a book that questions the very act of telling a story. His postmodern conception includes images not only of his, 8, 2003.