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Character Analysis: Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit

1250 Words5 Pages

This chapter takes into consideration the representation of problematic mother-daughter relationships described from the daughters’ standpoint. Firstly, it examines the portrayal of an engulfing religious mother who cannot accept her daughter’s lesbian nature in Oranges Are not the Only Fruit (1985) by English author Jeanette Winterson. Secondly, it discusses the destructive force of sick maternal bonds as depicted in the novel Sharp Objects (2006) by American writer Gillian Flynn. The main objectives of the analysis will be to focus on how mothers’ engulfing attitudes towards their daughters are represented in narrative fiction, to observe how maternal behaviour influences the child’s personal development and well-being, and to identify the space given to mothers’ and daughters’ subjectivities in the novels. …show more content…

The writer’s decision to give the main character her own name reflects the autobiographical content of the novel, since the story is based on the author’s own life.
The first part of the chapter examines how the whole story can be interpreted as a fairy tale, and how the mother’s role profoundly changes according to her attitude towards the heroine-narrator. Secondly, the final reconciliation between the two female characters is analysed. Lastly, the reasons for the adoptive mother’s rejection of Jeanette’s lesbian nature are

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