Reading 1001 discussion

Jeanette appears to be an outcast in school. How does this foreshadow her future life?

Jeanette appears to remain an outcast for the life we see in the book, at school because of her religious beliefs and in her community because of her sexuality. Away from the confines of the book I believe she has found love and acceptance we only get a hint of it.

Jeanette's life was a challenge from the start. Her school experiences possibly, in a terrible way, prepare her for the future to come. I admire the tenacity Jeanette showed throughout this novel.

Agree with you both.

She was raised separate. Because of the religious community that she was raised in, she was always separate from others. But she was raised with a lot of strong women. That probably helped her be the strong person she became.

Can you imagine the concern of her teachers when she spouted Old Testament maxims? Her theme for her cross-stitch sampler which she made for Elsie, for example, with the damned depicted in the corner? She was intelligent, she questioned things, but her extremely sheltered existence would have meant that she was ostracised by other students. Nevertheless, she developed powerful oratory and was a preacher at a very precocious age. Her mother made her independent, resourceful and competent, if not logical!

I'm not sure it foreshadowed anything. She was a difficult student because she didn't bow to the authority of the teachers and she eventually broke away from the authority of the church, but that was because of her independent spirit, not because she was an outcast.