'Ambiguity In Jeffrey Eugenides's Middlesex'

In childbirth, a newborn's identity is male or female, based on somatic traits. However, in some cases a person's sex can be ambiguous because of mutated genes. This was the case for a hermaphrodite named Cal in Jeffrey Eugenides's, Middlesex. In this novel Eugenides tells the story of Cal and of his Greek-American family, through a history of three generations. To begin with, Cal's grandparents Lefty and Desdemona are siblings who migrate to America because of Turkish attacks on their homeland, Smyrna. Additionally, Desdemona and Lefty promise to keep their incestuous love a secret once they arrive in America. Moreover, Lefty and Desdemona have a son named Milton, who appears to be healthy, but carries along a mutated gene. Consequently, Milton's wife Tessie unknowingly gave birth to a hermaphrodite named Calliope. Although, raised as a female, Calliope later finds her identity as a male who then goes by …show more content…
In this passage Olivia insists that Middlesex beautifully recalls an isolated group. In addition, Olivia thinks Middlesex helps doctors switch from a plan of swift surgical treatment to complete tolerance of a person’s intersexuality. In contrast, Dr. Luce implied that he could easily fix Cal with surgery. However, Cal did not approve and ran away because he did not need an operation but acceptance and comfort. Therefore, Cal settled at a nightclub where he gained acceptance and self-confidence due to his friendship with intersex people including Zora.
Overall, Cal wasn't always treated as an outcast because not many people knew that Cal was intersexual either way Cal didn't always feel sure about himself. However, as an adult Cal was able to fully embrace himself. For instance, Cal