ill seen as a fellow follower, a follower of Jeanette’s mother. The relationship between Elsie and her mother gets strained after Jeanette is caught with impure thoughts of loving another women. Jeanette’s mother sees her relationship with Elsie as one of the core problems. Elsie lets Jeanette’s mind live and gave her other things to wonder and ponder besides religion. She opens Jeanette to other ways of thinking besides the strict code in which her mother instilled in her since birth. Jeanette knew she was different then others. She grew up within a strict society that encompasses religion, she knew and loved her God, she wanted to be a missionary, she was curious about the world outside of her society, she had questions about her mother’s beliefs, and she was gay. With this knowledge, Jeanette begins to understand that the only way to be true to God is to be true to yourself. She never gave up on religion, even though her congregation gave up on her. Through Elsie she learned that society classifies everyone and to live outside those classifications is not a sin. That just because she is seen as different to certain people she is still normal to others. Elsie’s friendship was the start of Jeanette’s backbone. She grew from that friendship and realized strengths within herself other then the religious aspects. Jeanette’s mother gave her something even more valuable. She gave her the strength to find her sense of self. By making Jeanette face that she wasn’t a person who fit into her mold of a religious person, she made Jeanette go out an seek her real identity. Even when she was confronting Jeanette and punishing her, she was making her stronger, a better person then herself. Even though both women are strikingly different, they share key qualities. Both women had something in them that brought out the good in Jeanette. All be it, that Jeanette...
