{"id":185,"date":"2016-09-22T11:41:23","date_gmt":"2016-09-22T15:41:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/lgbtqlit\/?p=185"},"modified":"2016-09-22T11:41:23","modified_gmt":"2016-09-22T15:41:23","slug":"rebuilding-the-fallen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/lgbtqlit\/2016\/09\/22\/rebuilding-the-fallen\/","title":{"rendered":"Rebuilding the Fallen"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u2018All things fall and are built again<\/em><\/p>\n

And those that build them again are gay\u2019 (30).<\/em><\/p>\n

I found it rather interesting that the author chose this section or rather these two lines from “Lapis Lazuli” by William Butler Yeats to include in this novel. Although, this quote is not directly from Winterson herself, I found that these lines directly related to the story. My interpretation of these lines in the context of this novel is that the \u201cthings\u201d that have fallen represent the LGBTQ community. These members fall because of the ridicule, disrespect, and hate that they receive from society.\u00a0\u00a0 For example, as we saw in the \u201cIt Gets Better\u201d videos there were several common similarities in the different coming out stories. These people were all made fun of, judged, and unhappy. This was their \u201cfall,\u201d however, they \u201cbuilt themselves again\u201d by experiencing these common aspects essential to \u201cComing Out Narratives,\u201d like the ones we had discussed in class. For example in these narratives they go through steps such as re-introducing themselves, realizing that they were different, and coming out. I know that William Butler Yeats intended to have the meaning of gay as happiness, but in this context I think that Winterson wants the reader to see that those who must \u201cbuild themselves again\u201d or transform themselves are members of the LGBTQ community. Looking at the greater scheme of the novel as a whole, I believe Winterson\u2019s message is that members of the LGBTQ community do not have it easy, however, they can build themselves again and be happy.<\/p>\n

Winterson includes these lines on page 30, so fairly early in the novel. I think this purpose is a way for the reader to foreshadow that the main character, Jeanette, over the course of the novel is going to struggle and fall, however, will find herself despite her strict family upbringing.\u00a0\u00a0 As I\u2019ve been getting further into the novel, I have found support for my conclusion. For example, Jeanette faces struggles in school. It is obvious that she is different from the other students and misunderstood by her teacher. Mrs. Virtue criticizes her artwork because she only used 3 colors while the rest of the class used 4. This shows her deviance from the \u201cnormal,\u201d however; Jeanette tries to defend her artwork, which is a way of defending herself to the Mrs. Virtue.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u2018All things fall and are built again And those that build them again are gay\u2019 (30). I found it rather interesting that the author chose this section or rather these two lines from “Lapis Lazuli” by William Butler Yeats to include in this novel. Although, this quote is not directly from Winterson herself, I found … Continue reading Rebuilding the Fallen<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3242,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[111423],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-185","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fall-2016"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/lgbtqlit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/185","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/lgbtqlit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/lgbtqlit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/lgbtqlit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3242"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/lgbtqlit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=185"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/lgbtqlit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/185\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/lgbtqlit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=185"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/lgbtqlit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=185"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/lgbtqlit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=185"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}