CHAPTER V CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS
In this chapter I present conclusions and suggestions. The first one deals with the presentation of the conclusion of the study. In the second part, I give some
suggestion for further researchers. In addition, the writer also provides suggestion for the implementation of
using Jeffrey Eugenides’ Middlesex in teaching Paragraph Writing.
A. Conclusions
Before concluding the analysis of Middlesex, it is necessary to recall the problems formulation. The first problem is what the figures of Greek mythology
presented in Jeffrey Eugenides’ Middlesex are. The second problem is what the
significances of those figures of Greek mythology in Jeffrey Eugenides’ Middlesex are. From the analysis, the writer concludes that there are at least 5 figures of Greek
mythology presented in the novel which give significance to the story. Those figures are Tiresias, Calliope, Minotaur, Hermaphroditus and Zeus. Each of those figures of
Greek mythology has a different story which gives significance in Middlesex. Tiresias is a blind seer who has the experience to be male and then to be
female. The main character, Calliope, also shares the same experience with Tiresias but the main character changes from female to be male. Tiresias in Greek mythology
48
49 is classified as hermaphroditic figures; in which it has similarity to the main character
who calls herself hermaphrodite. Eugenides is amazed with Tiresias story which later gives him idea to write the novel. Tiresias also becomes the mirror figure of the main
character since they share the same experience as hermaphroditic figures, the experience of gender transformation, the same experience of love and sexual desire
towards male and female and as foreshadowing of the main character. Calliope is a beautiful goddess who is one of the nine muses who is in charge
of epic poetry. The main character ’s name is taken from this goddess. However, it
becomes an irony because this beautiful girl turns to be a man in the end. Hermaphroditus is the famous hermaphroditic figure in Greek mythology.
Hermaphroditus is the son of Hermes and Aphrodite whose body was merged with the body of the nymph Salmacis to become half male and half female. The main
character herself has ever joined a club and does an attraction as the god of hermaphrodites. In fact, the main character calls herself hermaphrodite, a term which
is taken from the name of Hermaphroditus, in order to call a person who has both sexes.
Minotaur is a monster with the body of a man and head of a bull that lives in the Cretan labyrinth and likes to eat human flesh until it is killed by Theseus. The
similarities between Minotaur to the main character are both of them are recognized and called themselves monsters and they are both a result of a forbidden love.
Zeus is the god of thunder, ruler of the Olympian gods, and spiritual father of gods and mortals. Zeus himself do incest, as he married his own sister. The main
50 character’s grandparentsalso do incest which triggered a gen mutation and makes the
main character becomes hermaphrodite.
B. Suggestions
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