Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Middlesex, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Rebirth vs. Continuity
Ancestry, Inheritance, and Fate
False Binaries
Migration, Ethnicity, and the American Dream
Secrets
Summary
Analysis
Cal describes his memories of the day he was born, saying he knows it’s “impossible” to actually remember this day, but he still does. The nurse doesn’t notice anything wrong with Callie, and takes her to be examined by Dr. Philobosian. Dr. Philobosian, now 74 years old, examines the baby, but at the moment when he is supposed to be inspecting Callie’s genitals, his eyes catch the nurse’s. Enchanted, Dr. Philobosian is distracted from his examination, and concludes that Callie is “a beautiful, healthy girl.”
This comic (and perhaps not entirely plausible) moment is another way in which minor accidents are shown to have a major impact on the direction of a person’s life. If Dr. Philobosian had not looked away right in that moment, everything else that happened to Callie could have been totally different.
Themes
Back at home, Desdemona has discovered Lefty’s body on the kitchen floor. Having not been able to hear his heartbeat, she assumes that he is dead. She weeps and curses God for taking Lefty away, but at the same time she feels a surge of happiness, as the source of her worries has suddenly disappeared. However, she then hears his heart beating, and rushes him to hospitals, where he regains consciousness. Although Lefty’s mind works perfectly, he can no longer speak. Back in Cal’s adult life, he is drinking coffee and eating strudel with Julie at Café Einstein. Julie says she thinks “beauty is always freakish.” Cal describes his own physical appearance, with traits inherited from his ancestors, but adds that no one has ever truly seen all of him.
The frankness with which Desdemona’s mixed feelings about Lefty’s death are depicted is quite profound and moving. Desdemona clearly adores Lefty and is deeply devoted to him, but this attachment doesn’t exclude feelings of resentment, anxiety, and the potential of relief at the possibility that she no longer has to take care of him.
Themes
Two months after Callie is born, Desdemona is distressed about the fact that she still has not been baptized. When Milton calls baptism “hocus pocus,” Desdemona starts dramatically fanning herself, and begs Milton to think of Zoë and Father Mike. When Milton hears that baptism is free, he reluctantly gives in. Assumption Church has recently moved to a new site, a spectacular building designed to recall “the ancient splendor of Byzantium” while also showing off the prosperity of Greek Americans. While Callie is being dunked in the Holy Water by Father Mike, she feels at peace. She then urinates in an “arc,” hitting Father Mike in the face. Those in attendance try to stop themselves laughing. Milton is proud, while Tessie is humiliated.
This is one of many moments in the novel in which a profound scene turns unexpectedly surreal and comic. The fact that baby Callie urinates on Father Mike arguably indicates that she will somehow cause trouble for the family when she grows up by defying the community’s norms and expectations.
Themes
Desdemona is also horrified by what happened at the baptism. It adds to the existing distress caused by the fact that for the first time, her spoon technique for predicting a baby’s sex didn’t work. Despite being resolutely opposed to assimilating into American culture, Desdemona has started to become more American by virtue of her obsession with TV. Desdemona was at first suspicious of Callie, seeing her as yet another sign of the “end times.” However, one day Desdemona goes into Callie’s room and holds her. From this moment, Desdemona is devoted to her granddaughter, who becomes her favorite member of the family.
As Desdemona eventually realizes, her suspicion of Callie does not really have anything to do with Callie herself. Rather, it is produced by Desdemona’s anxieties about her own place in the world, particularly in regard to her family, changing social norms, and the ongoing question of how assimilated into American culture she will allow herself to become.
Themes
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Lefty, meanwhile, has recovered well and remains physically fit, helpful around the house, and devoted to his translations. Still unable to speak, he communicates by writing notes. At night he smokes hash in his hookah pipe. For Callie’s first few Christmases, Tessie is so excited about having a girl that she dressed her in ridiculous, frilly outfits. During this time, Milton has taken to making home movies, and Callie describes how the family look in these films. Lefty is still “dapper” after his stroke, and Desdemona’s dentures make her look like a “snapping turtle.” Chapter Eleven looks decidedly American. The family have two boxers. Later, this film (“Easter ‘62”) will be screened by Dr. Luce at Cornell University Medical School. It shows the infant Callie nursing a baby doll.
Although the reader doesn’t yet know much about what will happen with Dr. Luce, the fact that something as personal and intimate as a home movie is screened at a medical school seems somewhat invasive. Rather than simply being a happy memory, “Easter ‘62” becomes scientific evidence, turning Callie into a test subject.
Themes
Before puberty, Callie is not physically different from other girls in a way that is visibly significant. Milton’s Super 8 film of Callie’s 7th birthday in 1967 is the last home movie he will ever make. At this time, Chapter Eleven is 12 and enjoys cutting golf balls in half in order to look at their insides. Profits from Milton’s diner have started to slump. When he looks into selling it, he is horrified to realize that he has waited too long; it is worth less than what Lefty originally bought it for, decades earlier. There is a particular patron of the diner considered to be a “troublemaker” named Marius Wyxzewixard Challouehliczilczese Grimes. He calls Callie “Little Cleopatra,” although she has been banned from speaking to him in return.
Like all children of immigrants, Milton faces pressure not only to maintain the legacy of what his father created, but to build on it. The American Dream is supposed to involve steadily-increasing prosperity, and to lose money or a business that was created by a previous generation is perceived to be a terrible failure.
Themes
Marius works in a record shop and is taking night classes at the University of Detroit Law School. He wears sunglasses and a beret, and likes to point out how many businesses in the neighborhood are “white-owned.” One day, Marius asks “Little Cleo” why Milton gives police officers free coffee, then tells her that it’s because Milton is afraid of black people. Callie denies this, but immediately after starts noticing signs of her father’s racism. One day, when Milton sees her talking to Marius, he shouts at her, saying she is not allowed to speak to strangers. Callie explains that Marius isn’t a stranger, to no avail. Milton stops letting her come to the diner for a while.
As may be obvious, Marius is a member of the emergent Black Power Movement. It is clear that Callie is already more open-minded and justice-orientated than her father, who is something of a bigot. Whether this is because she has the innocent mindset of a child or because she and Milton simply have different personalities remains to be seen.
Themes
