Escaping Religion: "Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit" and "Blankets" J.W. Reedy College

Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit by Jeanette Winterson and Blankets by Craig Thompson are coming-of-age stories that primarily focus on the religious beliefs of their respective authors. Winterson grew up in an Evangelical household. Her mother was a very religious woman with a totalitarian parenting style. This, in turn, corrupted Winterson’s young mind, and her understanding of the world was greatly skewed. Later in her young adult years, her lesbianism and being shunned by the family she had found within the church allowed her to break through that mentality. Thompson, on the other hand, grew up with similar circumstances. His parents were fundamentalist Christians. They were extremely religious and conservative with a rather abusive parenting style. To add to it, Thompson and his brother were also molested by their babysitter. His parents’ religious abuse and babysitter’s physical abuse placed him in quite the conundrum when it came to his sexuality. To bring everything full-circle, the upbringing of the authors had an adverse effect on their mentalities. Winterson and Thompson lived their lives in fear of disappointing God and their earthly gods—their parental figures—by attempting to live free of sin and temptation....