3. Many unrelated narratives appear in the novel. What purpose do they serve?

[Jen]

Many unrelated narratives appear in the novel. What purpose do they serve?

[[deleted user]]

I would not say they are unrelated as they do link back to the central narrative and to the central themes of faith and belonging, they shine a new light on things and give the story a magical realism feel.

[Lynn]

Those narratives serve as a parallel to get to the same point.

[Diane]

I liked the narratives that appear in the novel. I thought they strengthen the story.

[Patrick]

Like Lynn, I could feel that they served as a parallel to the story, as they contained some elements Jeanette's narration. It felt a little as if she was having disconnected dreams with interspersed elements of real life, the same way we can dream about people we know, things that happened, etc.

[Kristel]

I thought the narratives gave some additional information about what was happening in Jeanette's life.

[Pip]

I presume that the fairy tale episodes are what the question refers to. They emphasise the universality of the experiences Jeannette is undergoing. Some of the narratives a from the story of King Arthur, others mimic well known fairy stories but skew the narrative, sometimes in amusing ways. This forces the reader to doubt the veracity of any part of the story. Winterson said as much in the introduction to my version, saying that truth is always subjective, depending on the experience of the teller, and that it can change as the experience of the teller changes. Which makes me hungry to read "Why Be Normal When You Could Be Happy" which is a more factual account of her upbringing, or so I am led to believe.

[Paula]

I like the way Patrick and Pip answered this question.

I enjoyed the way the narratives added a bit of quirkiness to the story, instead of just telling about her childhood in a straightforward manner. It could have been a very bleak story if told in a different way.