Compare and contrast the presentation of sex and sexuality in The Color Purple by Alice Walker and Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit by Jeanette Winterson

Nicole Aquilina

The theme of sex and sexuality contributes to the important ideas of a struggle in the novels The Color Purple and Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit. Sex is presented through gender and the physical act, and sexual orientation is emphasised for sexuality. The novels chart the development of the protagonists, Celie and Jeanette, through their growing sexuality and their positions as women in society. Their struggles, however, are different. Celie’s predicament is that of being a woman in a patriarchal society, whereas Jeanette’s is living with her sexuality in a strict, fundamentalist, Christian household and church community. These are presented through attitudes of society, and through other characters. Celie’s father and her husband both abuse her violently and sexually in The Color Purple. Both men contribute significantly to Celie’s initial powerlessness to fight back. In Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit, however, Jeanette’s mother and the church are antagonists in her fight for her homosexuality. Both of the authors, Alice Walker and Jeanette Winterson, use similar techniques to suggest the importance of sex and sexuality and to demonstrate how they progress throughout the novels.

One of the main methods used to present the theme of sex and sexuality are the use of other characters, especially their dialogue. Both writers use the male gender to symbolise authority. Walker uses Celie’s father, Fonso, in the first few letters to illustrate sexual and violent abuse towards women. Fonso’s use of undue pressure on Celie’s mother to have sex with him as he is “pulling on her arm” whilst she is extremely ill gives the idea of the selfishness of men and their deep interest in self-satisfaction. Her reply that she is “already half dead” illustrates this further as he starts to use Celie to satisfy his needs when he says “you gonna do what your mammy wouldn’t”. It seems that they live in a patriarchal community, therefore women can be treated like this by a man and that it is a man’s right to have this privilege. His language towards her is also disgraceful, especially when he tries to sell her to a man called Albert in letter 7. He calls her ugly and describes her as “no stranger to hard work” and that “you can do everything just like you want to and she ain’t gonna make you feed it or clothe it”. This provides an insight into the treatment and lives of women. Women are expected to be domestic slaves, sexual objects and are solely responsible for taking care of the children. This explains Celie’s struggle with actually dealing with being a woman. A contrast can be made to Jeanette, as she also has a struggle relating to sex and sexuality, but this is focused more on her homosexuality. This is indicated through mainly her mother. It is explained that “she had never heard of mixed feelings” and that “sex (in its many forms)” was an enemy of hers. This hints at the fact that she, like the church, is very narrow-minded. Her view of homosexuality is made much clearer when Jeanette asks to visit the beach with the two women who owned the paper shop”. Winterson uses alliteration as phonetic emphasis for this as Jeanette’s mother replies “firmly and forever, no”. She does not let Jeanette ever go back, foreshadowing the cutting off of all homosexuals. Mrs. White describes the women to have “dealt in unnatural passions”. Winterson’s use of the term “unnatural” symbolises the community’s belief that homosexuality is abnormal and deviant, and therefore shows the dismissal of all homosexuals.

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The bildungsroman genre of the narratives contributes to the growth of the protagonists’ sex and sexuality from a struggle to strength. Celie’s mental weakness is due to men and their treatment towards her. Her acknowledgment of this is shown when her reply to fighting back is “I don’t know how to fight. All I know how to do is stay alive”. The power of patriarchy wears Celie to submission. This passivity is contrasted with Jeanette’s similar attitude. The chapter of Joshua includes Melanie’s confession to the church of their sexual relationship. Melanie was soon “calm, cheerful and ready to accept” repentance and later on in the chapter Jeanette was her “old self again”. This illuminates the impact the homophobic religion ideology has on people, as it coerces both Melanie and Jeanette into submission and they are therefore required to stifle their sexual identities. These attitudes, however, do develop at later stages. The main progress in Celie’s struggle is in letter 74 where Albert is told that she is moving away with Shug. Celie’s reply to “over my dead body” is that he is a “lowdown dog” and explains that his “dead body just the welcome mat” that she needs. She admits to Harpo that “you made my life a hell on earth” and that “your daddy here ain’t dead horse’s shit”. Walker uses animal imagery such as “dog” and “horse” to compare with the men. This emphasises that they are not real men, neither are they real humans. This is illustrated further when she curses him, and explains “until you do right by me, everything you touch will crumble” and “everything you even dream about will fail”. Celie has started to feel proud of being a woman and has decided not to accept any kind of abuse from anyone, especially a man. Similarly, Jeanette’s grows in confidence through her relationship with Katy mentioned at the end of the chapter of Joshua. Jeanette states that “she was my most uncomplicated love affair, and I loved her because of it”. Katy’s influence and love make Jeanette’s sexuality more clear to herself. Although she has “no intention of telling [Melanie] or anyone else what happened” between them, and this emphasises her same struggle to deal with the attitudes towards homosexuals. She has learned to deceive because her sexuality is unacceptable to the church. Celie’s relationship with men, and in particular Albert, grows additionally when she revisits him. They have decent conversations and Albert frequently compliments her, including her appearance when he says “you look real good”. This can be contrasted with his previous references to her appearance when he said “you black, you pore, you ugly, you a woman” and “you nothing at all”. This portrays the society’s idea that actually being a woman is seen as a disadvantage, and especially being a black and ugly woman. Towards the very end of the novel Celie makes a suggestion to Albert that even though she still doesn’t like frogs “let’s us be friends”. Celie has gained respect due to being a strong and independant woman. Correspondingly, Jeanette shows her commitment to love towards the end of the novel in the chapter Ruth. She explains that she would “cross seas and suffer sunstroke and give away all [she has] but not for a man”. This declarative is very decisive and portrays clarity in her mind that she is a stable lesbian.

Both writers use their protagonists’ sexual encounters to represent sex as a physical act by the use of imagery. In letter 24 Celie “feel like [she’s] praying” as she washes Shug. Walker uses this simile to equate washing Shug with praying to reveal Celie’s devotion to Shug. Walker also uses a simile to emphasise Jeanette’s love for Melanie as “[Melanie] stroked my head for a long time, and then we hugged and it felt like drowning”. Further imagery of the metaphor “I had an octopus inside of me” also illustrates their love for each other. Winterson uses this imagery to demonstrate the innocence of their relationship, and by doing this it allows the reader to see the natural and pure process that Jeanette undergoes in discovering who she is. Both writers confirm their protagonists’ sexualities.

Both writers use imagery derived from the titles of their novels to present the theme of sex and sexuality. In particular the use of colours purple and orange are important motifs throughout the novels. The meanings of the motifs change as the novels progress, and the authors have done this to chart the development of the protagonists. The very first mention of Purple is in letter 12, where Celie cannot find any clothing of that colour in the store. She sees purple as a colour that Shug “would wear”, and so one to be valued, but it is unattainable as “us look an look and no purple”. This symbolises a woman who is strong and proud to be so, but Celie cannot imagine herself to be such a woman. In comparison, it seems that the colour orange is portrayed through the fruit of orange. In the chapter of Exodus, Jeanette realises that she cannot hear and so writes a note to her mother, whom pays no attention. Jeanette simply “took an orange and went to bed”. The symbolic importance of this is that the fruit is a replacement or a substitute of a maternal figure who is understanding in all areas, including Jeanette’s sexuality. Jeanette also mocks her mother’s view that oranges are “the only fruit” in this particular chapter. Winterson uses syndetic listing of “fruit salad, fruit pie, fruit for fools, fruited punch. Demon fruit, passion fruit, rotten fruit, fruit on Sunday” in order to do this. The orange at this point is a symbol for heterosexuality and the opinion that they are “the only fruit” implies that heterosexuality is the only sexuality. Both of these initial indications of colour suggest the protagonists at their weakest. Celie is struggling with being a proud woman, whilst Jeanette is struggling to deal with people that do not accept her homosexuality.

Both writers use multiple narratives to represent sex and sexuality. Walker does this through Nettie’s letters, in which she provides an insight into gender roles and attitudes in the Olinka tribe. She starts to develop an awareness of the unfair treatment of women all over the world. Letter 62 reveals that the Olinkans do not believe that girls should be educated and when Nettie asks a mother why this is she replies that “a girl is nothing to herself; only to her husband she can become something”. Walker’s use of negatives echoes Albert’s words “you nothing at all”. The character of Tashi provides further information on the attitudes towards young girls. Nettie suggests to her parents that Tashi could be a teacher or nurse but her father’s response is that “there is no place here for a woman to do those things”. He suggests that Olivia may visit to “learn what woman are for”. This chapter explores the rigid gender roles prescribed in the Olinkan culture, and Nettie makes a comparison to the patriarchy found in the Southern United States as this reminds her “too much of Pa”. This suggests that the younger women do not easily accept traditions that violate their sense of self. Letter 65, especially, develops these attitudes through mothers of young girls. “The boys now accept Olivia and Tashi in class and more mothers are sending their daughters to school” but “the men do not like it” and fume “who wants a wife who knows everything her husband knows?” The Olinkan men no longer maintain omnipotent control as the women begin to assert their ideas as they encourage their daughters to be educated for the very first time.

Winterson, however, uses multiple narratives through means of fantasy allegories. In the chapter of Leviticus, Jeanette begins to form her own beliefs and rules. Winterson inserts the narrative of the prince to symbolise Jeanette and her relationship with the church. The prince wants a wife “without blemish inside or out, flawless in every respect. She must be perfect”. The goose tells him that “what you want can’t exist” and as a consequence the goose is beheaded. The prince believes that the world fits within his imagination, and this symbolises the church as it creates it’s theology and assumes that the world should fit within it. The woman that the prince finds “was indeed perfect, there was no doubt about that, but she wasn’t flawless”. The woman symbolises Jeanette as she appears perfect through her submission and work for the church but is seen to be “flawed” by the church because of her homosexuality. Although the woman’s blood, as she was beheaded, “drowned the advisors and most of the court” the prince ironically survived. The prince is the church as it will survive even though many of it’s members will lose faith. Through this, Winterson subverts the discourse of heterosexuality as the woman rejects the prince’s proposal of marriage. This signifies Jeanette’s rejection of a heterosexual match but instead of being killed the church feels that Jeanette must be removed.

The use of motifs also contribute to the theme of sex and sexuality. Walker uses quilting and sewing between the women in the novel as a means of sisterhood. Celie and Sofia start to mend their relationship in letter 27 by piecing a quilt together with a “basket full of scarps on the floor”. As the quilt is put together with mismatched pieces of cloth, the mismatched lives of women are put together into a coherent whole throughout the novel. During the quilting the women can comfort each other, and Celie starts to share her thoughts over Albert as she tells Sofia that “he alright in some things, not in others”. Letter 60 portrays this further as sewing is pictured as an activity that unites women. Celie’s replies to Shug’s suggestion of making and wearing pants are “I ain‘t no man” and “Mr. not going to let his wife wear pants”. This emphasises gender roles in the way of the power the men have over the women. These attitudes are developed in letter 76 as Celie makes “pants after pants” and changes “the cloth…the print…the waist…the pocket…the hem…the fullness of the leg”. This suggests that they are suitable for everyone to wear including men and women. This is illustrated further at the end where under her name “Folkspants Unlimited” is printed. They are pants for folks who include men and women and they are unlimited in every sense. In letter 77 Celie is “so happy…got love…work…money, friends and time”. Her business meets with success and this emphasises both her self confidence and economic freedom which facilitates her freedom from patriarchy as she can earn how own living and not be dependent on Albert. This is developed in letter 89 as stereotypes are liberated between Celie and Albert as they “sew” and “make idle conversation”, so release from gender stereotypes is harmonising.

In contrast Winterson uses the image of a brown pebble which guides Jeanette home and allows her to fight. The first time the pebble is introduced is in the chapter of Joshua when the orange demon throws it to Jeanette. The demon explains that they are not evil “just different, and difficult”. The pebble, therefore, is a reminder of Jeanette’s sexual identity as her life will be different and difficult but that is who she is. The pebble appears for the second time as the raven Abednego throws it to Winnet Stonejar to keep her safe and she does this by “clutching it tightly”. Winnet represents Jeanette as she too holds the pebble in moments of crisis. The pebble in this allegory becomes a talisman that evokes the fairytale of Hansel and Gretel, in which stones were used as a guide to home. The raven also coughs “a rough brown pebble into her hand” and explains that it is his heart of stone that “grew thick with sorrow, and finally set” because he “chose to stay”. He clarifies that “it will remind you”. This symbolises that Jeanette has a chance to escape as the pebble will guide her towards home, which is her true self and ultimately her sexual identity.

Walker and Winterson have used similar techniques to represent sex and sexuality, but they focus on slightly different aspects of the theme. Walker concentrates on patriarchy and so raises gender issues. Celie’s journey is to overcome these issues or attitudes in her society and eventually find love, prior to Shug’s tenderness. Although she has experienced the physical act of sex, it has been meaningless because it was made without love. Winterson, however, is condemning homophobic ideology and she explains that Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit “illustrates by example that what the church calls love is actually psychosis and it dares to suggest that what makes life difficult for homosexuals is not their perversity but other people’s”. Jeanette experiences this as her journey through the novel was to leave the church and become a proud homosexual.

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