Middlesex Original Creative Response

“But still she didn’t let go of my hand. Not for a while longer yet. The stretcher was wheeled down the corridor and my arm stretched out towards the Object… To gaze at the Obscure Object. For once more she was becoming a mystery to me… She stood at the end of the hall, holding my unraveling arm… Finally the inevitable moment came. The Object let go. My hand flew up, free, empty” (394-395).

"Fracture"

“Fracture” reflects both the chosen quote and the overall novel. The two sides represent Cal’s arm (left) and the Obscure Object’s arm (right) the moment the Object lets go. The Object’s arm is dot shaded it give it no clear boundary thereby causing it to be obscure and mysterious. The Object’s arm is also black on a white background, which causes the colors in Cal’s arm to stand out. The colors in Cal’s arm are used to represent that since Cal does not fit the characteristics of a traditional male or female, Cal’s gender is neither black nor white. The black boundary confining the colors in Cal’s arm represents society restricting Cal from openly accepting his own condition. The shape of Cal’s arm depicts the ups and downs of a rollercoaster and represents the “rollercoaster ride of a single gene through time” (4). The rollercoaster leads to the fracturing of the bond between Cal and the Object’s arms. The fracturing symbolizes both the “single gene” fracturing Cal’s life, and the fracturing of Cal’s connection to society when he finds out his true identity.

Eugenides, Jeffrey. Middlesex. New York: Picador, 2002. Print.

Middlesex Personal Experience

“Many cedars were standing straight up but many were leaning over. Still others had fallen against nearby trees, or crashed to the ground, popping up root systems. There was a graveyard feeling: everywhere the gray skeletons of trees” (369).

           

In this excerpt Cal describes her trip through the northern Michigan woods with the Object, Rex, and Jerome to reach the hunting shack. The woods are a cedar swamp causing the group to have trouble with their footing and only make “clumsy, yahoo progress” (369). From Cal’s description it is clear that the woods are untouched by humans and nature is allowed to take its natural course of action. Trees fall over, decompose, and provide the nutritious soil for the next generation of trees to sprout. While Cal describes the scene as giving off a “graveyard feeling”, I find that this type of environment creates a different feeling.

By using the word “graveyard” to describe the woods, Cal not only details the woods as featuring dead trees, but also labels the unease she feels. While I understand the unease Cal feels from walking and looking into the dark and unknown, I do not believe it is realistic for her unease to stretch to a “graveyard” level especially if she is with three other people. Additionally, not only is the unease Cal feels unrealistic, but the continuing unease is too. From my personal experience of camping, after a while any unease completely disappears and the night forest cast a tranquil atmosphere. The quiet blow of the wind, the motionless trees, the fixed stars in the sky; they all cause the night forest to seem untroubled and leaving the hiker or camper to be in a relaxed state. I can remember several instances of looking up through the cracks in the trees and being mesmerized by the stars pasted on the night sky. Therefore from my personal experience hiking through the woods during the night does not create a “graveyard feeling”; rather it creates a serene feeling.

A more effective way that Eugenides could have used the dead trees in the forest was to use them as a representation of rebirth. By using the trees as a representation of rebirth Eugenides could have effectively foreshadowed Cal’s discovery later in the chapter. Like the trees of the forest, the old Cal dies and the new Cal emerges.

Eugenides, Jeffrey. Middlesex. New York: Picador, 2002. Print.

Middlesex Text-to-Text

“Though our parents were friends, I hardly knew Maxine…She was the only Jewish kid at school. She ate lunch alone, spooning kosher food from Tupperware” (321).

            As part of the description of her advanced English course, Cal mentions the other girls in the class. One of these girls is Maxine Grossinger, a daughter of two Orthodox Jewish parents. From Cal’s description of Maxine it is clear that because of her parents’ faith, she is ostracized at school. Parents’ identity affecting their children socially is not limited to Maxine in the novel. Stepping a generation back from Cal, Milton is degraded by the real estate agent’s point system because of Lefty and Desdemona’s race and religion. As for Cal, her parents’ race and status causes her to be looked down by her school peers. The “old money” students, or the Charm Bracelets, label Cal as “ethic” for being Greek and not being from a long established family,

            In addition to being negatively affected by her parent’s outward appearance, Cal suffers because of her families’ genetic condition. As a result of the family’s incest, Cal is born both as a male and as a female, negatively affecting Cal, as it causes her to be uncomfortable with herself and distanced by others.

Other text that we have read in this course that deals with parents’ status and reputation affecting their children is Oedipus the King by Sophocles. After Oedipus’ true past is uncovered, he mourns about the future of his children. Oedipus cries,

“I think about your life in days to come,
     

the bitter life which men will force on you…

Who, then, will marry you? No one, my children.
     

You must wither, barren and unmarried” (1758-1773).

Because of the “crimes” Oedipus committed, his children will be forever alienated by their own society. Oedipus’ reputation will tail the children even though they had nothing to do with the patricide and incest.

            The reason both text include parents’ identity negatively effecting their children is because it is a reality that is very prevalent and has not only social effects but others effects as well. By including this element of life, both texts reveal that like the pre-determination of genetics, parts of your reputation and standing are already set even before you discover self-choice.

Eugenides, Jeffrey. Middlesex. New York: Picador, 2002. Print.

Sophocles. Oedipus the King. The Three Theban Plays. Trans. Robert Fagles. New York: Penguin Classics, 1984. Print.

Middlesex Key Passage Response

“Until we came to Baker & Inglis my friends and I had always felt completely American. But now the Bracelets’ upturned noses suggested that there was another American to which we could never gain admittance. All of a sudden America wasn’t about hamburgers and hot rods anymore. It was about the Mayflower and Plymouth Rock” (298).

When Cal is enrolled into the all girls school, Baker & Inglis, which has a high student body population of children from wealthy and well-established families, she feels out of place. Although Cal and both of her parents have lived in America for their whole life and consider themselves American, Cal is labeled as “ethnic” by her peers at Baker & Inglis. Being labeled “ethnic”, Cal is at the bottom of the school’s social hierarchy and is treated in such a way that, even at a young age, she is able to understand that she will “never gain admittance” into her peers’ social circles. This comes as surprise to Cal as the society she believes she is a part of suddenly rejects her. The excerpt above carries a surprised tone using phrases such as “all of a sudden” thereby clearly highlighting the surprise Cal feels. 

The idea of society rejecting and alienating members who are deeply part of the population is not limited to Cal and her family in Middlesex. Similar to Cal, African Americans in Detroit are labeled as outsiders and placed at the bottom of the social hierarchy despite being a major part of the community. They too understand that, although they have been part of America for just as long as some of the wealthy families, they will “never gain admittance” to the “other America”. This alienation of African American results in the 1967 race riots, which Cal witnesses, adding to her understanding of the exclusiveness of America.

In addition to race, sex is also a basis of alienation that Cal must face. Being born both male and female Cal has been an outsider from puberty to adulthood. Cal’s alienation because of sex may be seen as even more severe than because of her race since while Cal is cast off as low level being “ethnic”, she experience full withdraw and awkward tension from the people that know her “secret”.

The alienation Cal experiences while in America may explain her satisfaction with living in Germany. Being an American in Germany, Cal is an official outsider to the society. Being an official outsider may be comforting to Cal because while she will still “never gain admission” to German society, she will not be isolated by those who she considers to be her own kind.

Eugenides, Jeffrey. Middlesex. New York: Picador, 2002. Print. 

Middlesex Current Events

“The outbreak of so much shooting has taken me completely by surprise. I have looked through my father’s World War II scrapbook many times; I have seen Vietnam on television; I have ingested countless movies about Ancient Rome or the battles of the Middle Ages. But none of it has prepared me for warfare I my own hometown” (249).

Riding her bike down the 1967 rioting Detroit streets, Cal describes the shock she felt seeing the city she grew up in becoming a war zone. Despite studying history and the endless amounts of wars, Cal cannot fully understand and judge war until she is in one. This misjudgment of war is also seen with other members of Cal’s family. Lefty and Desdemona forget about the war they are in, believing the protection the Greek army is permanent, and Milton misjudges war as he joins the navy but does not expect to be deployed. The family’s misjudgment of war is part of the overall experience of not fully understanding destruction until it is brought to your own life.

A current event example of not fully understanding destruction is the Boston Bombing court case. Even though the jury is well acquainted with the terrorist attack, none of them experienced it first hand. In attempt to personalize the attack and stir the emotions of the jury, the prosecution called upon first hand witnesses to recount the destruction and death brought on by the bombing. The New York Times reports, “the government’s witnesses have spoken graphically, often choking up and moving jurors and reporters to tears in the pin-drop quiet of the courtroom” (Bidgood, and Seelye). Witnesses such as Bill Richard described, “how his family was blown apart by the bomb planted by Mr. Tsarnaev” (Bidgood, and Seelye). Whether is it the events in Cal’s story or the Boston Bombing case, acts of violence and destruction cannot be fully comprehended and understood until experienced by oneself.

Bidgood, Jess, and Seelye, Katharine Q. “Accounts of Heartbreak in Tsarnaev Trial as Victims of Boston Marathon Bombings Testify”. The New York Times. The New York Times Company, 5, Mar. 2015. Web. 19 Apr. 2015.

Eugenides, Jeffrey. Middlesex. New York: Picador, 2002. Print.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/06/us/-dzhokhar-tsarnaev-boston-marathon-bombing-trial-jeff-bauman.html