Jeanette’s childhood Essay

Jeanettes childhood was very much the same as Celies in the sense that it lacked a heterosexual relationship she could be influenced by. Jeanettes parents arent shown to be in write out in fact they are exhaustingly shown being in concert. When Jeanette asks her m a nonher(prenominal) why she married her father, she replies not almost love but about their responsibility to have a child and dedicate it to the lord(P. 10). however like Celie, this lack of a loving parental relationship may have lead Jeanette to enough a lesbian, as she hadnt been exposed to any real love between a hu soldierykind and a woman.Throughout the two novels, neither primary character has a well-nigh relationship with a male. Instead, they find shelter with other wo workforce. The fact that Jeanette never has a close relationship with a man can give us hints to her inevitable sexuality, as she is not sexually attracted to them, shown when she tried imagining him without his clothes on. Horrid. (P. -), expressing her churn up of the male body and general distaste of men. Throughout Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit, she has a close relationship with a woman from church, Elsie.When Jeanette is sick in hospital, her mother rarely visits because she is busy, but Elsie comes every virtuoso day to make me smile(P. 29). This, as well as the fact Elsie sticks by Jeanette even afterward her lesbianism is revealed, almost seems to the reader that they have a parent/daughter relationship, where Elsie looks out for Jeanette and keeps her strong through hard times Jeanette said and my confidence restored (thanks to her)(P. 30). Their closeness lasts until Elsies death.Her friendship and experiences with Mrs Jewsbury introduces Jeanette to homosexuality, which is a key turning degree in the novel and can be seen to have had a huge impact on Jeanettes sexuality. Like Jeanette, Celie shares closeness with women rather than men. While Jeanettes distaste of men is more passive and subtle, Celie i s meanspirited and wary of men because of the way shes been treated by them. She lived in a time when men dominated the social hierarchy, so all the women had to stick together.This is shown when Celie meets Sofia, who has six brothers and five sisters, and says all the girls stick together (P. 39). Its a possibility that Sofias words inspired Celie to find confidence in other women instead of suffering al unitary, because it is after this that Celie develops a close relationship with Sofia and Shug Avery,. The quilt Sofia and Celie make acts as a metaphor to show the power women can have when in numbers and the things they can achieve.Both Nettie and Mr. __s sister, Kate, tell Celie You got to fight(P. 17 and 21) to encourage her, and Kate says you deserve more than this(P. 20), which helps Celie discover self-worth and gives her the confidence to leave Mr. ___. Kate shows Celie she is not alone, and the new dress Kate buys for her symbolises Celies newfound refuge with other wome n and the start of defining herself as a new, stronger person.Celie also seeks shelter from Shug, who she spends most of the novel admiring, and Shug takes on the responsibility of looking after her and introducing her to the idea of self-worth, empowering Celie as a woman. Their relationship is a major influence for Celies sexuality, despite the fact critic Trudier Harris calls it The summit meeting of silly romanticism1, implying it is unrealistic. I disagree with this, as I think their relationship is more sororal than romantic, shown when Celie says we sleep like sisters me and Shug (P. 124) emphasizing how closely theyve bonded. It is definitely not silly when looking at how much Celie gets out of their relationship, including redefining herself, questioning the word around her and discovering self worth, as stated before.Walker and Winterson both predict the future lesbianism of Celie and Jeanette in various ways through symbolism and particular events. Jeanettes lesbianism is hinted throughout the book, one example being the banana bar she is offered by the lesbian shopkeepers.