The Theme of Identity That Appears Throughout Middlesex
Tania Scaccia
In the novel Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides the theme of identity is evident. This novel depicts the tale of a hermaphrodite struggling throughout the years to find his/her true identity. The main character in this novel is first introduced as Calliope Helen Stephanides and within time is “born” yet again as Cal at the age of fourteen. Eugenides uses certain characters and situations throughout the novel in order to understand Cal’s situation. The characters that Eugenides uses are Cal’s grandparents Lefty and Desdemona and also Cal’s parents Tessie and Milton. In this novel Eugenides tells the story of not only Cal’s life but the life of his grandparents and his parents. These characters play an essential part in the life of Cal. Each member of Cal’s family is a carrier of the “recessive mutation of the fifth chromosome” which ultimately affects the path in which he travels. The transition that Cal undergoes from girl to boy is a struggle for identity and with the decision of what sex to choose. Cal encounters a physical and emotional struggle with identity that stems from the fabricated tale of his families identity.
In this work of literature Eugenides describes the story of his grandparents’ and his parents’ relationship and how it came about. Cal’s grandparents’ were originally brother and sister but with fleeing from Greece to America they were able to admit to the love that existed between the two. After escaping Greece and on the journey aboard the boat to America Lefty and Desdemona put on a show of courtship. Lefty and Desdemona pretended to have no notion of each other “They passed the voyage playing out this imaginary flirtation and, little by little they began to believe it. They fabricated memories, improvised fate” (Eugenides 77). Leaving behind Greece and the true relationship that exists between them they pursue to fabricate cover stories and wed on board the boat to America. This is an important part of the novel because it discusses how the relationship forms and how Cal’s grandparents struggle to hide their true identity from the world. After they wed Lefty and Desdemona produce a son, Milton. Milton’s birth calls attention to the fact that families intermarrying could cause deformities within a child, stated by Dr. Philobosian “We know now that most deformities result from the consanguinity of the parents….From families intermarrying”(132). After hearing this information Desdemona feared that an abnormality would eventually occur to a child in the family.
The marriage between Desdemona and Lefty is not the only intermarrying one that occurs. Milton grows up and marries his second cousin Theodora also known as Tessie. This marriage results in the conception of Callie. The relationship of his grandparents and parents are essential because it explains how scientifically the “mutated gene on the fifth chromosome….Every so often a hermaphrodite was born, a seeming girl who, in growing up, proved otherwise” (81). Cal grows up not knowing the truth that lies within the relationships in her family. This important information is what seems to be the missing piece in the puzzle. In order for Cal to understand who he truly is he needs to first understand where he came from.
Eugenides begins the novel by stating “I was born twice: first, as a baby girl…and then again as a teenage boy…. I was first one thing and then the other” (3). Opening the novel in this format allows the reader to understand that Cal has undergone two births. This is critical because it explains how Cal encounters a struggle to face his true identity that is not only physical but also emotional. When Cal is first born in the physical sense he is a girl with female genitalia. From the point of his birth till around the age of twelve which is the beginning of maturation Cal is viewed as a girl. During the time of puberty physical aspects of a girl’s body are supposed to develop. In Cal’s case these natural physical developments never took place “…the flat chest, the nothing hips….Gradually, as most of the other girls in my grade began to undergo their own transformations, I began to worry…about being left behind, left out” (322). This was a beginning realization that Cal was not like the other girls in society. The first friend that Cal has a relationship with is Clementine Stark. The relationship between the girls is odd because for Cal there is an underlying attraction. Cal does not understand at the age of seven what this attraction could possibly mean. Then again at the age of fourteen Cal befriends a girl Obscure Object and has this same attraction, but now older she realizes that it may not be normal. Cal at this point is still not physically maturing as a girl but begins to fake getting her period. Eventually, Cal learns of her situation that she is both male and female.
Although, Cal was raised as a female in the beginning of his life he has always had “a male brain.” Since the age of fourteen Cal has accepted his sex as a male and has lived the life of a nomad. As an adult Cal works in the Foreign Service and does not stay in one place for a long period of time. He is continually moving from place to place in order to keep relationships to a minimum. He also conceals himself behind his physical appearance by wearing “double breasted suits” which make him feel more secure as a male. On a deeper emotional level Cal struggles emotionally with his true identity. He has become physically a man but emotionally he is battling within himself over which identity he most relates to. Cal is never secure within himself as a male “Calliope surfaces….It’s like being possessed….On the sidewalk I’ll feel a girlish walk take over, and the movement brings back a kind of emotion….”(47). At times Cal seems confident in being a male but we see through his relationship with Julie that he is insecure. He never opens up to her emotionally or physically instead he retreats. Eventually, the relationship fails due to Cal’s inability to connect with Julie. Cal is not open about his gender situation, sometimes he tells all at other times he tells no one depending on his emotional state. Cal does not view himself as a normal human being because of his condition. Cal compares himself to the Greek creature Asterius who was a born a monster not by choice but by fate. The monster was produced by “fruit of betrayal” and hid himself away from the world. This Greek creature could correlate with Cal because he was conceived through the tale of lies and deceit. Cal like Asterius goes through life hiding away from the world and avoiding confrontations. Cal avoids personal contact in an emotional way because he is ashamed of what he is. The fact that his conditions renders him sterile he feels as though he is in a position to never marry. Cal is in emotional turbulence over the state of his conditions and is filled with shame. Cal is continually struggling for unification within himself both physically and emotionally. A part of the reason Cal is divided about his identity is because he does not know where he truly originates from. Since Cal was born he was told the fabricated lies about the family’s relationships. Keeping the reality that his grandparents were originally brother and sister from Cal has complicated his life. If Cal was presented with the truth that his grandparents and parents relationships had to do with his deformity he may have understood it better. The struggle that Cal experiences with his identity is partially because he feels as though it was somehow his fault when in actuality it was the fault of his family.
The struggle for identity in the novel Middlesex is a physical and emotional struggle for the character of Cal. The identity that Cal eventually assumes is false just like his family history. Genetics plays a major role in creating the deformity that Cal lives with but is not the reason why his life is in turmoil. The true reason that Cal can not fully adopt one sex is because until the end he is unaware of the true relationships in his family. The truth behind the relationships of his grandparents and parents gives him a better understanding as to why he was born the way he was. Cal struggled with his identity because he was ashamed of the person that he was and as a male used materialistic things to overcompensate for it.
Work Cited
Eugenides, Jeffery. Middlesex. United States: Picador, 2002.
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