“I was born twice: first as a baby girl, on a remarkably smogless Detroit day and January of 1960; and then again, as teenager boy, in an emergency room near Petoskey, Michigan, in August of 1974.” (pg.3) Middlesex, by Jeffery Eugenides. Middlesex is a remarkable non-fiction about an individual born with intersexuality. The first half of the book briefly about the family’s background; how and why the grandparents immigrated to the United States. Desdemona and Lefty once were brother and sister, married each other as they escaped their country. The long journey of the family throughout decades, how they survived and adapted to the new country and culture. Coincidently or by fate, their son Milton married his cousin Tessie who are parents of
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Happy days in Detroit shortly replaced worries and fears by the visiting of the old friend named Dr. Philobosian. As the subject of their conversation was about deformed babies, the myths about deformed babies were born as the mother happened to think about or had a glance at the picture of monsters. The myth is always the myth but raised Desdemona’s concern about her unborn child as he talked about deformation babies result from the consanguinity of the parents. She tried to recall babies who were born with something wrong and their miserable endings. Her worries and scares haunted by that day one. “In the late autumn of 1923, minotaurs haunted my family, To Desdemona, they came in the form of children who couldn’t stop bleeding, or who were cover with fur.” (p.118) The nightmares are horrible and pervasive to Desdemona’s mind. The worries erode her life as she afraid the God’s punishments will be on her unborn child. In the article “The Gender Trap” wrote by Stephen, Amidon mention: “If, as biologists now assure us, human fate is simply a function of genetic code, then Calliope Stephanides (Callie) is entitled to curse of the gods who programmed her DNA.” There are no punishments from Gods in the scientific point of view. However, the writer emphasized the main sources of Desdemona’s worries are the incest …show more content…
Cal was born a girl, raised as a girl and called Callie. By the time she was fourteen-year-old, the physical body did not develop as she expected to compare to her friends. The breasts fail to sprout, hips are small, and invisible facial hair appeared on her upper lip. What next? Her menstrual had no sign. Callie was so scared and confused but she did not really talk to no one about her concern. Even more confusing when she finds herself mysterious attracted to a girl in English class. Cal states, “In the basement bathroom was a time frame I felt much more comfortable with, not the rat race of the school upstairs but the slow, evolutionary progress of the earth, of its plant and animal life forming out of the generative, primeval mud.” Middlesex (p.328) As Callie tried to hide, denied and mostly confused about her puberty development. Trying to figure out who she was and why did this happen to her. The hardship and burdens she carried was unbearable for a teenager. Although the signs and mutation did not show much at beginning, readers could realize and suspect what happen to Callie. Anne, Stephenson in “Greek Tragedy with Comic Touch” published by USA Today wrote: “Cal is hermaphrodite, born with both male and female sex organs. It was not obvious when he was a baby, and his unsuspecting Greek-American parents raised him as Calliope
Happy days in Detroit shortly replaced worries and fears by the visiting of the old friend named Dr. Philobosian. As the subject of their conversation was about deformed babies, the myths about deformed babies were born as the mother happened to think about or had a glance at the picture of monsters. The myth is always the myth but raised Desdemona’s concern about her unborn child as he talked about deformation babies result from the consanguinity of the parents. She tried to recall babies who were born with something wrong and their miserable endings. Her worries and scares haunted by that day one. “In the late autumn of 1923, minotaurs haunted my family, To Desdemona, they came in the form of children who couldn’t stop bleeding, or who were cover with fur.” (p.118) The nightmares are horrible and pervasive to Desdemona’s mind. The worries erode her life as she afraid the God’s punishments will be on her unborn child. In the article “The Gender Trap” wrote by Stephen, Amidon mention: “If, as biologists now assure us, human fate is simply a function of genetic code, then Calliope Stephanides (Callie) is entitled to curse of the gods who programmed her DNA.” There are no punishments from Gods in the scientific point of view. However, the writer emphasized the main sources of Desdemona’s worries are the incest …show more content…
Cal was born a girl, raised as a girl and called Callie. By the time she was fourteen-year-old, the physical body did not develop as she expected to compare to her friends. The breasts fail to sprout, hips are small, and invisible facial hair appeared on her upper lip. What next? Her menstrual had no sign. Callie was so scared and confused but she did not really talk to no one about her concern. Even more confusing when she finds herself mysterious attracted to a girl in English class. Cal states, “In the basement bathroom was a time frame I felt much more comfortable with, not the rat race of the school upstairs but the slow, evolutionary progress of the earth, of its plant and animal life forming out of the generative, primeval mud.” Middlesex (p.328) As Callie tried to hide, denied and mostly confused about her puberty development. Trying to figure out who she was and why did this happen to her. The hardship and burdens she carried was unbearable for a teenager. Although the signs and mutation did not show much at beginning, readers could realize and suspect what happen to Callie. Anne, Stephenson in “Greek Tragedy with Comic Touch” published by USA Today wrote: “Cal is hermaphrodite, born with both male and female sex organs. It was not obvious when he was a baby, and his unsuspecting Greek-American parents raised him as Calliope