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Since ancient times, myth has been one of the main ways of mastering reality by a human. Thanks to mythological consciousness, people explained the events of the world and understood each other better. In addition, myths allowed people to create standards of behavior and to educate people in becoming decent members of society. One of the common mythological plots is the story of the hero’s journey (Young 2011). In this, a person faces specific challenges, changes, becomes better, and in the end, he or she reaches a big goal. In ancient times, these heroes were mainly strong and brave men, such as Hercules or Odysseus. However, now anyone can become such a hero – even a young girl. In particular, a striking example of a word that describes the fate of a modern heroine is the novel Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit by Jeanette Winterson. The purpose of this paper is to prove that the path of the novel’s protagonist is the journey of a modern hero.
The protagonist of the novel is a girl named Jeanette, who was adopted by evangelists who are engaged in missionary activities; this occupation is destined for her as well. The girl is brought up in a religious atmosphere, and her education is to study the Bible. Her mother periodically conducted tests on her biblical knowledge. However, even being a child, she observed that with all this external virtue and humility, people do not keep the commandments and even accompany them by opposite actions. Neighbors eavesdrop, condemn and discuss each other, and even joy is seen as demonic. The story’s credibility is achieved by its vivid and accurate description of the girl’s life, her thoughts, and her search for “herself,” which is facilitated by the author’s life experience. Epigraphs allow readers to focus on the idea of the whole work. The novel is preceded by two epigraphs that enable the reader to focus on recognizing the heroine’s destiny, which permeates the entire book.
The first stage of the heroic journey, which can be noted in the novel, is the ordinary world. Jeanette’s story begins in her childhood because the reader needs to understand the atmosphere in which she grew up. The author writes about the various details of education and describes the environment conducive to its formation. The essential motive of this stage is the religious component. She knows from her childhood that “everything in the natural world was a symbol of the Great Struggle between good and evil” (Winterson 21). The heroine grows under the enormous influence of the church and absorbs religious teachings and rules. For her, these components become the basis of being – the ordinary world.
Around her, a place is created in which every person believes in God and must follow commandments. On the one hand, this should have had a positive impact on the main character, since religious values are generally noble and useful. On the other hand, excessive control and strict upbringing could not contribute to developing a strong and open personality. Thus, this ordinary world was not the most pleasant place for Jeanette, which means she had to go on a journey.
In part, religious education affected the girl’s intellectual growth, since initially, the mother did not want to send her to school. This went on for quite some time because, for the mother, the school seemed a dangerous place full of sin. She claimed that “the Devil’s in the world, but not in this house” (Winterson 30). However, at some point, the family received a letter from the state about the need to send the girl to school. This letter can be named the call for adventure: the next stage of the journey. It became clear that home education could not last long, and the girl should begin to interact with a vast world that was not limited to the church. Therefore, despite the warnings of her mother – the primary representative of the ordinary world – Jeanette got there. This is a mythological description of the beginning of her path.
Hence, Jeanette began her journey: this part of the novel can be called crossing the threshold. As it turned out, the world is much broader than what she used to see at home and in church. Thus began her journey of a hero and the formation of an independent personality. She had to reconsider many of her views on life and, on the whole, to restructure her usual perception of reality. A significant change of scenery facilitated this: unlike the house and church, the school was not filled with religious values. Many different children and adults did not always behave in the usual way. In addition, her school is a place with its own rules that are different from those traditional for the Jeanette family. Consequently, crossing the threshold has become partly a rather painful process.
This can be noted in the next stage of Jeanette’s journey: tests, allies, and enemies. She immediately realized that she was different from the majority, and it would become difficult for her to join the society. This was expressed, for example, in her unusual behavior and worldview. In particular, her drawings depicting the outside world were terrifying and frightened classmates. However, for her, such pictures were normal since she was used to them in the home education process. Jeanette’s mother reassures her that she is unique, and after studying, she can find her true calling by devoting her life to serving God.
At some point in this period, Jeanette is seriously thinking about inter-sexual relationships. This becomes another test for her because she did not get proper knowledge about this in the family and had to figure it out herself. This causes her fear since church teachings inspired her to think of the many frightening properties of men. Undoubtedly, the prospect of connecting her life with such “terrible” creatures did not appeal to her.
The next stage that can be distinguished in the novel is the approach. At this stage, the main character meets a new girlfriend: Melanie. Jeanette assumes: “she was my friend, and I wasn’t used to that, apart from Elsie. Somehow, this was different” (Winterson 98). This part can also be called the meeting with the mythological mentor period since Melanie gives Jeanette a better understanding of herself. At this stage, she comes closer to understanding her essence, talking with her new friend, and feeling completely new. She likes to chat with Melanie and wants to share her knowledge and emotions with this girl. She lets this girl into her life and feels happy about it.
Comparing the various personality characteristics of Jeanette, it can be argued that it was for a long time that this type of love relationship was laid down in her. The church created a partly fearful attitude towards men. However, she was initially born as a person who, in the future, will strive for same-sex relationships. Relations with Jeanette and Melanie have become warm and close, as between best friends. However, besides this, they were filled with tenderness and care, which quickly led to the creation of Jeanette’s understanding of love.
In this part of the novel, the heroine goes to the next stage: the ordeal. Here she has to “fight” with one of the most potent opponents: Miss Jewsbury, a kind of a mythological enemy. This woman, who seemed to have good intentions, took possession of Jeanette’s trust and then seduced her. It was one way to “cure” her of homosexuality. Undoubtedly, after such an unpleasant test in her path, Jeanette feels overwhelmed and depressed. However, being a real hero, she can survive all the difficulties that she can meet on her way.
The next test on this part of the heroine’s journey is the need to spend 36 hours without food. In this way, the pastor suggests changing the girl’s character and making her obey the church and God. During these hours, Jeanette experiences hallucinations and feels a demon inside herself. However, he is not necessarily evil; she just needs to learn how to live with him. Such a demon can be found in everyone, which is an integral part of life. They are always related to events from the past that can be traumatic and depressing. However, each person lives with these demons and tries not to feel too stressed about it.
After these experiences, Jeanette pretends that her mother managed to eradicate her homosexuality, although this is not true. After that, Jeanette finds out that her mother burned all of her letters to Melanie. This was a big blow for the heroine, as they were priceless. She felt terrible about it: “evEveryonehinks their own situation most tragic. I am no exception” (Winterson 184). After that, the girl realizes that she should not put her mother in the first place in her life: she should be there herself. This understanding became critical for her and allowed her to become free.
It can be argued that at this moment, the girl goes to the reward stage. After all the events, she fully realized her essence (“What makes a hero?” 2012). She learned to clearly distinguish between good and evil following her internal coordinate system. She knows for sure what she wants and what she is. No representative of the outside world can influence this worldview and change it. In addition, during all the experienced trials, Jeanette strengthened her character, as she had to confront many people. Thus, despite the steep life path, her reward was internal strength and rational self-perception. These qualities are useful for modern hheroesbecause they allow them to cope with difficulties in various fields. They can help build a career, create harmonious relationships with an equal partner, and achieve great heights. It can be argued that Jeanette has become one of the people who can do all this.
The last stage of Jeanette’s journey is their returntoh the elixir. It takes place in the final chapter, which describes the heroine’s state after all her adventures. Undoubtedly, since this is a “modern myth,” it is difficult to talk about some literal elixir or another trophy – part of the physical world. However, Jeanette gained useful knowledge and skills from what happened, and the new facets of her personality can be called an elixir. Her reward for suffering is pride in who she is. She can confront people like her mother or pastor who think something is wrong with her. She can get from the world what she really wants. She knows what kind of people to surround herself with to feel comfortable, calm, and interested. In addition to owning this elixir, she carries it to the world and “distributes” it to people. Thanks to this, Jeanette can empower others with her confidence and simplify their lives; this is how modern hero influences modern society.
The novel Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit by Jeanette Winterson is a striking example of a modern myth. Its main character is one of the people who, thanks to courage and strength, deserves modern heroes’ status. She is experiencing many difficulties in her life path; however, she copes with each of them. In the process, she is fully aware of herself and understands what she can take from the world and what she can share with it. It is not always easy for people like Jeanette to live, but all the difficulties make them stronger, smarter, and more confident. In today’s world, where people lose their ambition and interest in life, such heroes are especially needed. They fight insecurity and injustice and bring truth and light to the world. Everyone can become such a hero, and Jeanette Winterson succeeded in this matter.
References
“What makes a hero?” YouTube, uploaded by TED-Ed, 2012, Web.
Winterson, Jeanette. Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit. Random House, 2009.
Young, Jonathan. Joseph Campbell. Dictionary of Modern American Philosophy. Thoemmes Press, 2011.
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