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Gender Identity And Love In The Novel Sexing The Cherry

1484 Words6 Pages

Set in England in the 17th century, a time of great political upheaval in the country’s history, the novella Sexing the Cherry explores elements of the fantastic and incorporates historical aspects of this era into its fictional plot. Some central themes that the novel revolves around include that of time, the exploration of gender identity and sexuality, and love. The novel makes use of elements of the fantastic to reinforce its themes. Several key elements used include magical realism, time travel and fairy tales. The book is written from the perspectives of each of the two main characters Dog-Woman, an enormous woman, and her adopted son, Jordan. Through the course of the novel the two storytellers jump around between their past, present, and future experiences in their descriptions of their lives.
Time is explored and manipulated in the novel to the extent that it can arguably be seen as the most important and central theme to the book. Before the novel even unfolds the Hopi tribe are mentioned as they have no tense in their language. This immediately sets time as a key aspect of the novel as the seed of what time really entails is planted in the reader’s mind. Time is used in such a way that the characters …show more content…

Their mother and son love is one of the only aspects of the novel that is stable, constant and real. Their love and caring for each other is, in some ways, the glue that holds them and the novel together. Jordan openly speaks of his love for his mother and is unashamed of her size and behaviour. He knows that his mother must love him, although she never tells him. As the readers, we are well aware of the deep and powerful love Dog-Woman feels for Jordan and know that although she struggles to put into words how much she cares for him, he is the most important thing in her life and she struggles to cope when he sets off on his travels with

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