Background of the Study

CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION

The first chapter is an introduction to this study. It consists of six major parts: background of the study, problem formulation, problem limitation, objectives of the study, benefits of the study, and definition of the terms. Background of the study presents information and reasons related to the subject matter. The second part is problem formulation that presents the formulation of problems to be discussed. The third, problem limitation, describes the focus and scope of the study. The fourth, objective of the study, states the aim of the study. Next, benefits of the study identifies parties who can benefit from the study. Definition of terms, the last part, explains important key terms related to this study.

A. Background of the Study

Literature is one of the great creative and universal means of communicating emotional, spiritual and intellectual concerns of mankind. It is characterized by the use of imagination and meaningfulness of expressions. Written in a carefully-thought form and technique, literature exploits and, at the same time, favors to readers’ imagination. Reading literature offers pleasure and satisfaction to readers. In addition, literature offers some values to and develops intelligence and personality of its readers. By reading literature the readers may gain some knowledge and insights that 1 2 can enrich their quality of life. Realizing these values, I was encouraged to choose literature as the topic of this research. There are many kinds of literary works, such as essays, short stories, novels, dramas, and poetry. In this study, I use novel as the major source. I chose novel because novel is one form of literary works which is derived from the reflection of the author’s thought about anything that happens around him. Novel is also the result of the author’s imagination and creation from the reality. I chose Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides as the object of this study. Jeffrey Eugenides was born on March 8 th , 1960 in Detroit, Michigan. Eugenides was a descedant of Greek and Irish immigrants. He attended Brown and Stanford Universities. His first novel, The Virgin Suicides, was published by Farrar Straus Giroux in 1993, and he has received numerous awards for his work. In 2003, Jeffrey Eugenides received The Pulitzer Prize for his novel Middlesex. Middlesex, which was also one of the nominees to receive the National Book Critics Circle Award, the IMPAC Dublin Literary Award, Frances Prix Medicis, has sold over 1 million copies. Middlesex is a novel that tells about Calliope, a Greek American who is raised as a girl until discovering, in adolescence, that she is in fact intersexes —with the chromosomal makeup of a male, and the genitalia of both sexes. However, this novel does not only talk about the transformation of sexual desire caused by the sin of the main character’s ancestor but also about three generations of Greek refugees in The United States starting from World War I until the 20 th century, which deal with 3 the economy, security, and political issues and family secrets that the family face. Eugenides describes his novel as: Middlesex is the story of a family with a genetic mutation in its bloodline. The book is told by the final inheritor of this gene, who traces the recessive mutation down through three generations. True, the mutation in question results in the narrators being intersex —labeled as female at birth, he later adopts a male identity. The novel itself, however, concerns a welter of events aside from his own sexual transformation. Rather, Cals transformation makes him suited, intellectually and emotionally, to tell these other tales of metamorphosis, be they national, racial, or historical QA With Jeffery Eugenides. In addition, Eugenides also explains the concern of the novel as below: The novel itself, however, concerns a welter of events aside from his own sexual transformation. Rather, Cals transformation makes him suited, intellectually and emotionally, to tell these other tales of metamorphosis, be they national, racial, or historical. QA With Jeffery Eugenides Furthermore, in brief Eugenides explains, “Middlesex is a hybrid itself: part immigrant saga, part psychological novel, part comic epic, part medical mystery” QA With Jeffery Eugenides. In the novel, Eugenides used some mythological figures especially, Greek mythology figures. Those Greek mythology figures found in the novel made me interested in revealing the reason why Jeffrey Eugenides presented some Greek mythology figures in the novel. Furthermore, I am curious about the connection between those mythology figures and the story. 4

B. Problem Formulation