Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal
Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal? by Jeanette Winterson Structural analysis
Structure • Genre: memoir → no chronological order → the events follow the writer’s stream of emotions • 15 chapters + intermission + coda • The titles of the chapters hint at their content → they are built around a topic (love, church, family, …)
The dedication • The novel is dedicated to three mothers: Ann S. → birth mother Constance Winterson → adoptive mother Ruth Rendell → “literary” mother • Every mother represents something different for the writer (e. g. source of inspiration, opposition, …)
Characterization Constance Winterson Jeanette Winterson Physical characterization using the technique of the grotesque Psychological analysis of her acts and beliefs Only psychological characterization Introduced from the very first chapter She does not develop through the story Her psychological development is the centre of the narration
Title and Chapter 1 • Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal? → contrast between the two terms → asks the reader to wonder what they mean to him Chapter 1 First description of Constance Winterson Contrast mother/daughter → telephone conversation after the publication of Oranges The writer’s personality when she was young → she could not feel empathy towards others
Chapter 2 Description of Manchester → effects of the Industrial Revolution → the writer believes the place where you are born makes who you are Her life as an adopted child Her concept of life → life is an endless research for happiness → Constance Winterson refused life because she refused happiness
Conclusions Ø Description of Manchester → several analogies between J. Winterson’s description and Tocqueville’s report → the Industrial Revolution was a contradictory process Ø Meaning of books → books are “a home” → they are a planet where one may escape the real world → J. Winterson made up stories when she was closed in the coal hole Ø Several questions to the reader → the writer asks the reader to discuss his beliefs, like she has done
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