Symbolism, Imagery, Allegory
Setting
Global FondueUnlike America, Smyrna seems to be an actual melting pot, in which you can savor all the different cultures. Cal paints the picture like this: "Everyone in the city could speak French,...
Narrator Point of View
What Happens When You AssumeCal is an authoritative narrator—just check out our "Allusions" section to see all of the references he makes. But does he really know what he's talking about? There's...
What's Up With the Title?
Like everything in Cal's life, the word Middlesex has dual meanings, the obvious one being the fact that Cal is between sexes. (Insert as much talk about genitals as you're willing to stand right n...
What's Up With the Ending?
At the end of the novel, Cal has returned from being a performer in a sex show in San Francisco, his father has died after being blackmailed by his brother-in-law, Cal has realized that religion is...
Tough-o-Meter
It took Eugenides ten years after The Virgin Suicides to write Middlesex, but it'll only take you a fraction of that time to read it. That doesn't mean it's easy, though. Middlesex is long, chock-f...