Alice Walker The Color Purple and Jeanette Winterson Oranges are not the Only Fruit comparing religion in both novels. Celie and Jeanette.

This essay concentrates on the theme of religion in two Novels. "Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit" is a semi-autobiographical novel by Jeanette Winterson, set in the North of England. "The Color Purple" is an epistolary novel by Alice Walker, set in the deep south of America.

The epistolary form used by Walker gives us the idea that Celie and Nettie aren't characters but real people. By choosing this literary form, Walker chooses the best to make her characters as human as possible in that letter writing is a very personal way of communicating. The semi-autobiographical form used by Winterson also adds a certain human nature to the novel, as the experiences are considered to be more 'real'. The protagonist sharing the name of the author provides an obvious link to the reader in this respect. The way the chapters are named after the books of the Old Testament firstly shows the importance of religion in the novel and on Winterson.

Jeanette Winterson (b. 1959), British writer

God the Father 16

Gods and sodas

Secondly, the stories of each of the books of the bible can be linked to the progression of Jeanette's character through the novel. A simple example of this can be seen in the chapter "Numbers". The book of Numbers tells the story of the Israelites heading to the promised land. In this chapter Jeanette also becomes closer to her own "Promised Land" in recognising who she really is and coming to terms with her sexuality. The letters in "The Color Purple" also show change through the novel. Changing who Celie addresses her letters to (from God to Nettie) shows a progression in Celie's faith in the difference of one word. The letters also unveils the way Celie's communication skills develop, especially in her vocabulary and analysis of other characters in her letters. She moves...