Plot Summary (AQA A-Level English Literature A): Revision Notes
Plot summary
The narrative of Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit follows Jeanette's journey from childhood through to early adulthood, chronicling her experiences growing up in a strict fundamentalist Christian household and her eventual assertion of independence.
Early childhood and religious upbringing
The story opens with Jeanette at seven years old, living in a northern English town with her adoptive parents. Her mother, a devout fundamentalist Christian, dominates every aspect of Jeanette's life and has deliberately adopted her with a specific purpose in mind: to raise her as a future missionary and servant of God. Jeanette's father remains largely absent from family life, barely present in her upbringing.
Until the age of seven, Jeanette receives all her education at home, with her mother using the Bible as the primary teaching tool. This isolated upbringing means that Jeanette knows no one outside their church community, creating a limited and insular worldview. Her mother has instilled in her the belief that she is unique and destined to become a missionary.
Jeanette's adoption is not presented as an act of love, but rather as a deliberate recruitment of a child to fulfil her mother's religious ambitions. This establishes the novel's central conflict between personal identity and imposed religious expectations.
The hearing loss incident
A significant event occurs when Jeanette loses her hearing at seven years old. Her condition goes undiagnosed for an extended period because her mother and the congregation interpret Jeanette's behaviour as evidence that she has entered a state of religious rapture. The church community views this as a spiritual rather than medical matter.
The misdiagnosis of Jeanette's hearing loss as religious ecstasy demonstrates the dangerous consequences of interpreting medical conditions through an exclusively religious lens. This incident reveals how extreme fundamentalism can compromise a child's wellbeing and safety.
Eventually, another church member named Miss Jewsbury recognises that Jeanette's condition has a physical cause. After proper diagnosis, Jeanette receives treatment at hospital. During her recovery, she spends considerable time with Elsie, another congregation member, who introduces her to subjects beyond religious instruction, including poetry and composers like Wagner. This represents Jeanette's first exposure to secular culture.
School experiences and growing isolation
When Jeanette begins attending school, she immediately becomes an outcast amongst her peers and teachers. Her evangelical beliefs and behaviour set her apart from other students. The teachers actively discourage her work when it focuses on missionary themes. When Jeanette submits essays about missionary work or creates art projects featuring biblical quotations, the teachers express their disapproval and disdain.
The situation escalates when Mrs Vole, one of Jeanette's teachers, writes to Jeanette's mother expressing concern. Mrs Vole reports that Jeanette appears obsessed with God and has been frightening other students with discussions about Hell. However, rather than responding with worry or anger, Jeanette's mother reacts with elation, viewing this as confirmation of her daughter's spiritual calling.
The mother's reaction to Mrs Vole's letter reveals her fundamentally different value system. Where teachers see concerning behaviour requiring intervention, the mother sees evidence of successful religious indoctrination and divine calling.
Although Jeanette eventually stops creating projects with overt biblical themes in response to the teachers' objections, she continues to feel alienated at school. As she matures, she begins to question certain teachings from her congregation, marking the start of her intellectual independence.
Adolescence and first love
As Jeanette enters adolescence, she becomes increasingly interested in romance. She listens carefully to other women's conversations and complaints about their husbands and begins to wonder about relationships. One day, whilst out in town with her mother, Jeanette notices an attractive girl named Melanie working at a fish stall.
Jeanette attempts to speak with Melanie, but Melanie is unable to talk that particular day. Shortly afterwards, Jeanette secures a job washing dishes at a nearby ice cream shop. She spends her Saturdays working there and watching Melanie from a distance. Eventually, the two young women become friends.
Jeanette brings Melanie to her church, and during this first visit, Melanie agrees to be saved by Jesus Christ. This marks the beginning of their deeper connection. Jeanette frequently visits Melanie's house for Bible study sessions, and as they spend more time together, their friendship develops into a romantic relationship. Jeanette finds herself deeply in love with Melanie and experiences genuine happiness for the first time.
Church confrontation and attempted exorcism
Jeanette confides in her mother about the depth of her feelings for Melanie and her need for this relationship. The following Sunday, the pastor publicly confronts both young women in front of the entire congregation about their relationship, which the church views as sinful.
Melanie immediately repents under this public pressure, but Jeanette refuses to renounce her feelings. Instead, she flees the church and takes refuge with Miss Jewsbury. Significantly, Miss Jewsbury herself is a lesbian, and that evening, Jeanette and Miss Jewsbury sleep together.
The Exorcism as Conversion Therapy
The church's response to Jeanette's sexuality represents a form of conversion therapy, a practice now widely condemned by medical and psychological organizations. The novel depicts the trauma and violence of attempting to "cure" homosexuality through religious ritual and psychological pressure.
The next day, the church elders arrive at Miss Jewsbury's house to perform an exorcism on Jeanette. They believe she is possessed by demons. The elders subject Jeanette to this ritual for thirty-six hours, during which time they lay hands on her for fourteen hours straight and deny her food. Despite the ordeal, when Jeanette still refuses to repent, she eventually pretends to have repented to end the torment. However, she privately maintains that she has done nothing wrong by loving both Melanie and God.
Following this traumatic event, Melanie disappears from Jeanette's life entirely.
Return to church and second relationship
After the exorcism, Jeanette becomes deeply involved in church activities once again. Her role within the congregation grows substantially—she preaches her own sermons and takes on teaching responsibilities in Sunday school. To outward appearances, she has been successfully brought back into the fold.
However, Jeanette soon begins a new romantic relationship, this time with Katy, a recent convert to the church. One weekend, the two women are discovered together. When confronted, Jeanette attempts to deflect blame by claiming that she had previously been involved with Melanie, suggesting that Melanie led her astray.
Jeanette's strategy of blaming Melanie demonstrates her understanding of how the church perceives moral responsibility. By positioning herself as the victim of corruption rather than an active participant, she attempts to navigate the congregation's judgement.
The church leadership decides that Jeanette has been given too much responsibility too quickly, contributing to her moral failings. They insist that she must reduce her activities and give up both her teaching and preaching roles. Faced with this ultimatum and unwilling to relinquish her position, Jeanette makes the decision to leave the church entirely.
Her mother responds to this rebellion by forcing Jeanette to leave their home, viewing her daughter's continued involvement in same-sex relationships as bringing illness and spiritual corruption to the household.
Adult independence and eventual return
Without a home, friends, or financial resources, Jeanette must build an independent life. She takes on a variety of jobs to support herself, including working at a funeral parlour, driving an ice cream truck, and working at a mental hospital. During this period, she occasionally encounters her mother or members of the old congregation whilst out in town. These encounters are invariably cold and hostile, with them treating her with suspicion and claiming she is possessed by demons.
Eventually, Jeanette moves away to the city, creating further distance from her past. After an unspecified amount of time, she returns home one winter to visit her mother. Her mother does not discuss or acknowledge Jeanette's lifestyle choices or the conflicts that drove them apart. However, her behaviour suggests that her fundamentalist beliefs have softened somewhat with time.
Despite these subtle changes, Jeanette's mother still maintains her connection to her religious community. She continues to listen to missionary reports on the radio system with her characteristic fervour, indicating that whilst she may have become more accepting of her daughter, her core faith remains unchanged.
Key Points to Remember:
- The novel follows Jeanette's journey from isolated childhood in a fundamentalist Christian household to independence and self-acceptance
- Jeanette's mother adopted her specifically to raise her as a missionary, creating intense religious pressure from birth
- The misdiagnosis of Jeanette's hearing loss as religious rapture highlights the dangers of extreme religious interpretation
- Jeanette experiences two significant same-sex relationships (with Melanie and Katy) that bring her into direct conflict with her church
- The church's attempted exorcism represents the community's violent rejection of LGBTQ+ identity
- Despite being forced from home and ostracised by her community, Jeanette builds an independent adult life
- The ending suggests tentative reconciliation with her mother, though fundamental differences remain