'The Limiting Power Of Words In Cal's Middlesex'

In the novel Middlesex, Cal narrates the complexity of his life, starting from his grandparents’ incestualized relationship to the present day. Throughout the story, the theme of fate versus choice is seen as brother and sister marry, and then cousin and cousin marry. All while this is taking place, a gene mutation is being passed down the family tree where it eventually lands in the life of Calliope. Born a female to outsiders, Calliope struggles with finding her identity as she discovers she embodies both female and male genitals. Transitioning to a male, Cal is unable to fully belong in the assimilated word of males and females. The chosen passage from the novel, which is related to the text by displaying a central aspect of Cal writing his narrative, demonstrates the limiting power of words in both the sense of describing the emotions felt by Cal and his family and by …show more content…
This narrative is a thing of its own and could be described as a hybrid for two reasons. First, this text is a life portrayal of not only Cal, but multiple characters. Second, it is a hybrid narrative in the sense that it is both linear and circular. Cal shows frustration in not being able to accurately articulate his experiences when he says, “I’ve never had the right words to describe my life.” A narrative is complicated because authors have to specifically choose words that will portray the life of a human being. To use simple words would be to create a simple narrative, which is not appropriate for Cal’s life. Cal is the definition of a human hybrid by embodying both sex organs, something that is seen rarely. Because of this, Cal cannot use average words because those have already been used on average people. This passage shows that narratives are shaped by the words written and in order to describe unique situations, unique word combinations need to be