Middlesex By Jeffrey Eugenides Essay Questions - 1233 Words

Middlesex Final Test Prompt 2: In the event of Cal working for the Sixty-Niners in the book Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides, he learns to come to terms with both himself and his gender identity. An example would be how when Cal joined the Sixty-Niners, he met other hermaphrodites like Zora who taught him how to come to terms with himself and supported him throughout the process. This is shown in the quote â€Å"‘Look at you. No one would ever know.† â€Å"I want people to know, Cal.† â€Å"How come?† Zora folded her long legs under herself. With her fairy’s eyes, paisley-shaped, blue and glacial looking into mine, she said, â€Å"Because we’re what’s next.(490)’† Zora explains to Cal why she doesn’t try to hide the fact that she’s a hermaphrodite and even†¦show more content†¦Prompt 3: The central conflict of the book Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides is gender identity which is shown through Calliope’s struggle with determining and accepting her true gender as a hermaphrodite. The conflict also affects other characters as it causes grief, confusion, and leads to. Calliope’s first encounter with her gender identity crisis was when she develops feelings and sexual attraction to the Object which is stated in â€Å"Jerome knew what I was, as suddenly I did, too, for the first time clearly understood that I wasn’t a girl but something in between. I knew this from how natural it had felt to enter Rex Reese’s body, how right it felt, and I knew this from the shocked expression on Jerome’s face†(375). The experience of having intercourse with Jerome and fantasizing being in Rex’s position shows that Calliope isn’t just a female but something in between and that adds more to her suspicion and confusion of her actual gender. This also affects other characters as it leads up to Calliope having a sexual relationship with the Object which reveals the Objectà ¢â‚¬â„¢s true feelings towards Calliope and her actual sexuality. She also has another encounter with her gender identity when she discovers that she’s biologically a boy who had been raised as a girl. In the file by Dr. Luce, it describes Calliope’s condition with the description â€Å" As the girl’s gender identity was firmly established as female at that timeShow MoreRelatedLiterary Criticism : The Free Encyclopedia 7351 Words   |  30 Pagesaround the globe.[15] The genre translates fairly directly into cinematic form, the coming-of-age film. Plot outline[edit] A Bildungsroman relates the growing up or coming of age of a sensitive person who goes in search of answers to life s questions with the expectation that these will result from gaining experience of the world. The genre evolved from folklore tales of a dunce or youngest son going out in the world to seek his fortune. Usually in the beginning of the story there is an emotional