Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit

Jeanette’s mother plays more than one role in Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit, as she is both a mentor to the young Jeanette and an antagonist to her as she grows up. Jeanette’s mother sees herself as a holy woman, devoted to her faith, her church, and its many organizations. She brings Jeanette into this environment when she adopts her and plans for her to follow in her footsteps. Her religious devotion is described as severe and acts as a guiding light to her throughout the novel: “She was Old Testament through and through. Not for her the meek and paschal Lamb, she was out there, up front with the prophets, and much given to sulking under trees when the appropriate destruction didn’t materialize” (2-3). Jeanette’s mother is unforgiving and unmoving in her faith, seeing anyone who is not with her in the church as her enemy deserving of downfall. Her unflinching devotion makes her a rigid parent, with a singular expectation for Jeanette’s life. She raises Jeanette to follow her plan, educating her with the Bible and bringing her to and including her in many religious functions. When Jeanette begins resisting this vision, her mother transforms from a guide to a villain. As the book puts it, she stops being Jeanette’s fairy tale queen and turns into an evil sorcerer.

When Jeanette’s relationships with Melanie and Katy are revealed, her mother reacts poorly, quick to involve the church and follow the advice of the pastor. She is largely a static character: Even though she allows Jeanette back into the home for visits in her adult years, there is still a palpable divide between them. The fact that Jeanette’s mother refuses to look Jeanette in the eye speaks to her refusal to accept Jeanette for who she is, namely, someone who is not the ideal of perfection her mother had expected. When Jeanette continues to refuse repentance and decides to leave the church rather than deal with their efforts to help her, Jeanette’s mother completely and publicly disowns her daughter: “‘Oh she’s a demon your daughter,’ wailed Mrs. White, holding on to the pastor’s arm. ‘She’s no daughter of mine,’ snapped back my mother, head high, leading the way out” (160). Not only is she quick to denounce Jeanette and declare that she is not her daughter, but she proudly leads the church group out, head held high. Her pride in disowning her daughter is striking but expected, considering her strong devotion and unwillingness to change. She is an antagonist to Jeanette not only because she evicts her from their home and publicly shames her, but because she fails to give her daughter support when she needs and fails to let Jeanette be less than perfect in her eyes. In fact, her mother is largely responsible for the conflict Jeanette experiences, constantly involving the church and the pastor in her life.

Jeanette has many mentors in the novel, being educated by different women at different points in her life, but none are more supportive than Elsie. Elsie is an older woman from the church who looks after Jeanette as she grows up. When her mother cannot visit her in the hospital, Elsie visits, and even brings her home from the hospital when her mother is away. She is a guardian in addition to being a mentor to Jeanette, helping her make sense of the world as she matures: “‘There’s this world,’ she banged the wall graphically, ‘and there’s this world,’ she thumped her chest. ‘If you want to make sense of either, you have to take notice of both’” (32). With this advice, Elsie teaches Jeanette that she must reconcile her inner, personal feelings with the world around her. This manifests later in the novel with the conflict between Jeanette’s own feelings about her relationships with Melanie and Katy and the church’s insistence that they are sinful. Elsie helps Jeanette to grow and recognize the importance of her feelings, and she makes her feel loved by providing her with friendship that she cannot find in school or at home.

Elsie, despite falling ill and spending extended time in the hospital, continues to be a mentor and guardian to Jeanette, especially when Jeanette needs it most. When Jeanette’s mother discovers her relationship with Katy, and the church once again descends on Jeanette, Elsie invites her to her house. Elsie reveals that she always knew of Jeanette’s lesbian identity and wished she protected her, giving Jeanette the support she needs in a trying time: “I got up and hugged her and we sat by the fire together like we used to, not saying much. We didn’t talk about it, not the rights or wrongs or anything; she looked after me by giving me what I most needed, an ordinary time with a friend” (135). Elsie knows Jeanette and comforts her like the mother and friends she does not have at home. While Jeanette’s mother rallies the church to force her daughter to repent, Elsie provides a safe space in which Jeanette can breathe and think of what is to come next. Elsie is a static character, performing the role of a constant support for Jeanette to rely on. While Jeanette’s mother teaches her the ways of the Bible, Elsie educates her on the world and provides her with the open arms she needs.

Melanie is the primary love interest of Jeanette in Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit and though in the beginning their relationship is positive and productive, their discovery by the church and the ensuing fallout turns their connection antagonistic, especially as they mature. Melanie turns on Jeanette and rejoins the church after her repentance, even finding a husband and having children. When she and Jeanette meet as adults, Melanie denies their relationship and minimizes her role in it: “Then she laughed and said we probably saw what had happened very differently anyway....She laughed again, and said that the way I saw it would make a good story, her vision was just the history, the nothing-at-all facts” (177). After the discovery of their relationship, Melanie follows a completely different path than Jeanette, becoming her foil. While Jeanette secretly stands by her lesbian identity, refusing to feel shame and dismiss it, Melanie does, following the church’s guidance and pursuing a heteronormative marriage. She denies her identity and her history with Jeanette, not wanting to recognize it for what it was or describe it as a sin. While Jeanette goes on to live her life freely and search for someone to truly love her, Melanie hides in her marriage, with her children, becoming a completely different person.