Fiction And Life Writing In Jeffrey Eugenides's 'Middlesex'

Middlesex, by Jeffrey Eugenides, is a novel regarding Cal Stephanides and her discovery of self as well as her reconciliation with gender. Having been born a male but raised a female due to her being a hermaphrodite, Middlesex follows the history of her genetic tree as well as how genetics determine destiny in a format mimicking a memoir, a form of life writing. A memoir is a collection of memories that is written about one’s own life which is shaped around a specific point of that person’s life as well as specific themes. Eugenides blurs the relationship between life writing, specifically a memoir, and fiction writing toying with the concept of life writing and fictional storytelling.

Middlesex, as a work of fiction, functions as a memoir

This can be seen through Cal’s introduction, “I was born twice: first, as a baby girl, on a remarkably smogless Detroit day in January of 1960; and then again, as a teenage boy, in an emergency room near Petoskey, Michigan, in August of 1974. Specialized readers may have come across me in Dr. Peter Luce’s study, ‘Gender Identity in 5-Alpha-Reductase Pseudohermaphrodites,’ published in the Journal of Pediatric Endocrinology in 1975. Or maybe you’ve seen my photograph in chapter sixteen of the now sadly outdated Genetics and Heredity. That’s me on page 578, standing naked beside a height chart with a black box covering my eyes. My birth certificate lists my name as Calliope Helen Stephanides. My most recent driver’s license (from the Federal Republic of Germany) records my first name simply as Cal. I’m a former field hockey goalie, long-standing member of the Save-the-Manatee Foundation, rare attendant at the Greek Orthodox liturgy, and, for most of my adult life, an employee of the U.S. State Department. Like Tiresias, I was first one thing and then the other. I’ve been ridiculed by classmates, guinea-pigged by doctors, palpated by specialists, and researched by the March of Dimes. A redheaded girl from Grosse Pointe fell in love with me, not knowing what I was. (Her brother liked me, too.) An army tank led

After Cal finds his file in Dr. Luce’s office, Cal recalls, “It wasn’t all Dr. Luce’s fault. I had lied to him about many things. His decision was based on false data. But he had been false in turn. On a piece of stationery, I left a note for my parents. Dear Mom and Dad, I know you’re only trying to do what’s best for me, but I don’t think anyone knows for sure what’s best. I love you and don’t want to be a problem, so I’ve decided to go away. I know you’ll say I’m not a problem, but I know I am. If you want to know why I’m doing this, you should ask Dr. Luce, who is a big liar! I am not a girl. I’m a boy. That’s what I found out today. So I’m going where no one knows me. Everyone in Grosse Pointe will talk when they find out. Sorry I took your money, Dad, but I promise to pay you back someday, with interest. Please don’t worry about me. I will be ALL RIGHT! Despite its content, I signed this declaration to my parents: “Callie.” It was the last time I was ever their daughter” (Eugenides, 438-439). The format of the memoir is important to this work of fiction because it adds the unique perspective of motivation to Cal’s retelling of the story. In most works of fiction, the pieces are told in 3rd person and the question of “why is the narrator telling this story” cannot be answered. However, in most nonfictional memoirs, there is a