“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.
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