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brother/sister relations
Did anybody have a problem with the relationship between Desdemona and Lefty? Later in the book I did not have a problem with it, but I just thought it was weird that they were brother and sister and also husband and wife.
Courtney Rabideau about 1 year ago
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I didn't 'have a problem with it', because, first of all, it was only a story. Beyond that, it was one of the important elements of the book in that it provided the necessary genetic flow for the tale to work.
John Forest about 1 year agoi mean...of course i had a problem with it...like i cant imagine having that kind of relationship at all with my brother! yuck...but it did have a huge part in the story and the narrator explains that this is something quite common in small villages.
Facebook User about 1 year agoI think it was meant to kindof gross you out.
Facebook User about 1 year agoI honestly don't think it was meant to gross you out, I think that the novel goes fairly deeply into the twisted nature of the relationship. Yes they are brother and sister, they are also the only people either one has left in the world, they grew up in a very close relationship, without the normal distractions of other adolescents to fasten their desires on. Once Smyrna was burned they were effectively, and literally, set a drift on an ocean with no one to turn to but one another. Yes the relationship is "gross" in the way any incestuous relationship is 'gross" but I think assigning it that simple explanation fails to recognize the scope and depth that the Author went to the pains to instill in his story and especially in his characters and their motivations.
Anonymous User about 1 year agoI completely agree with you. What I meant by that it was meant to kindof gross you out is that all the relationships in that book are oddly abnormal. Lefty and Desdemona, Callie's parents, and all of Callie's relationships (the little girl next door, the object, etc) are just a little abnormal and contain a mix of innocence, confusion and sexuality. They all left me with an eerie strange feeling. I think this might have been the author's intention.
Facebook User about 1 year agoi was kind of weirded out in the very beginning but i got over it as soon as i really got into the story. plus, it's sort of the glue that holds the story together, and as soon as i figured that out it was smooth sailing. :) this is one of my favorite books ever.
Cathy Messier about 1 year agoAlthough the relationships are the main story here - Callie's relationships, her parents, grandparents - I enjoyed this book for an entirely different 'character' in the book: Detroit. I grew up there in the 50's and early 60's and left just before the 64 riot. I thought the way the author used the early and mid-20th century history of the city as a descriptive backdrop was great and really, really interesting.
Elaine Lazar about 1 year agothis is definitely a compelling topic thread, so, first of all, thank you to anyone who has contributed! that being said: i know that the incestuous relationship accounts for the genetic anomaly in this narrative but i wonder, statistically, how many intersex births are attributed to such beginnings? and in turn, i wonder why eugenides chose this particular entree for his protagonist?
Heather Twhigg about 1 year agoThis isn't exactly on topic, but I find it interesting how many readers refer to the narrator as "she" or "her," given that much of the plot turns on Cal's insistence that his identity is that of a male, and his desire for the world to see him as such.
Brendan Berls about 1 year agoI think it really depends on what side the reader identifies with. The girl of Calliope or the narrator of Cal. The reader does not really get much of an insight into Cal's life after he is firmly established as male while we receive alot of insight into the girl of Calliope. Or maybe it would be better to say description of Calliope's life.
Amy Bodine about 1 year agoI think for those who read on a regular basis, especially books from Oprah's book-club, nothing shocks. I don't think Eugenides included this in his novel for "shock" value, however, the intermarriage made Cal possible. The love story between grandparents/brother and sister was crucial to the plot. I hate to burst your bubbles, but this sort of thing went on more than you'd imagine - I'm sure it is still happening.
Sarah Stott 11 months agoVery interesting discussion ... thanks for sharing ... now I must read!!
Facebook User 9 months agoI believe that books are a means for us to have a part in lives that aren't ours and may never be ours. By reading about relationships like this one we should become more aware and more accepting because we are now more knowledgeable of relationships like these. We know that they're more than just pure "gross" or "wrong," and that we can't criticize them because we know that it's more complicated than what a one word explanation might suggest. Of course, everyone has the right to feel uncomfortable. Literature is beautiful because it lets us have these experiences and emotions, and to become more emotionally connected with the world without having to literally go through the lives of hundreds of people other than ourselves...
Emilia Panish-Hoffmann 9 months agoHonestly, the idea doesn't bother me greatly because it's a book and it's the author's artistic license which forms the background of the story. Also, in terms of genetics, people are generally programmed to become attracted to compatible (read: similar) genetics to their own in order to increase the chances of their own genes getting successfully passed on.
The reason we don't all go around marrying our close relatives is the other part of this equation, that we are programmed NOT to be attracted to genetically related people we've grown up alongside. But this is the reason we see stories in the news from time to time where long-lost siblings end up married, and marriage between "kissing cousins" has a long, world-wide history.
In sum, I certainly wouldn't marry my own brother, but the concept doesn't surprise or digust me.
Facebook User 6 months agoWell Lefty had an aweful time trying to "get into a groove" with a girl. He could find something wrong with each one of them which makes him "opt" out. No "buffet style" dating there! It almost reminds me of what might happen between a 17-18 year old best friends where they experiment with each other because they feel emotionally safe or a friend "helps out" another friend in a more than "friendly" way. There were no pretenses that you usually have to deal with in dating and there was a sense of purity. As a sibling you see people at their best and worse without delay which just might make them a lot more human. I didnt think much about it one way or another since I'm an only child but I did see it as a basis for another theme. The twisted sick nature of a lot of relationships sure yea ok. Men can be sex-crazed and women conspire. A stereotype that I noticed was paralleled against the incestuous relationship in Eugenides book.
I think that there are some people out there who "calculate" relationships. What situation or set up might help to increase the chance for success? How this might relate to Middlesex. "You might not care about screwing me over as your wife but you love me as your sister." "You might not care about screwing over as your sister but dammit I am your wife." Of course that can also make relationships that really aren't meant to be drag out also because of that "secondary" tie which can be financial. In case of Middlesex that primary tie may be brother and sister or husband and wife. Your pick. I think the brother/sister theme might have possibly been used as an allegory. You hope to get ideally paired up with someone who has "enough "stake in the claim (if there is a such thing.) It worked out ok in the case of Lefty and Desdemona until the birth of Cal..where actions meet up with consequences in the form of a genetic abnormality. IIf you are in a relationship you might have to think of yourself as being something more than just husband and wife or partner and partner in order to keep it alive.
Facebook User about 1 month ago