identity

end of book 3

Identity

I think that I identity myself as a female American. I think of myself as an American because I know that my family has roots in Germany, England, Ireland, among others, but I only feel connected to the America. I don’t think I would ever say that I am from Germany, England, etc. I consider myself an American. I also identify myself by the things that I do. I say that I am a swimmer because it is something that I love to do and something that I like to be identified by. I have tried to reinvent myself subconsciously when I started puberty. Looking back I became more conscious of the world and where I wanted to fit. I am not like Desdemona and Lefty where I had to convince myself, instead, I found it harder to convince the people that I have been in school with for years. I knew what I wanted to change about myself but my classmates took longer to be receptive to this change. It wasn’t something drastic, rather where I fit in the class. I no longer wanted to be the weirdo who no one took seriously but someone who is respected with some interesting qualities. It took a three years until I felt part of the class and I was helping improve our class. My reputation has respect now. I think it still and will always evolve but it is in the spot where I want it now. My reinvention was gradual and took longer that I would have liked however I feel like I am more part of this class now. I think it is interesting to note my realization occurred when I was 13, in the early stages of entering womanhood. It is like my brain clicked into gear. So in a way I tried to changed my actions and words to show people how I wanted them to think of me. I let my quarks define who my friends were before 7th grade, now I let my interests show me who my friends should be. I also think people identify me as certain things, sometimes they are things that I don’t really prefer to be seen as but I think that I do it to other people too. So things like nationality, actions, words, preferences, gender are engrained into our minds as being ways to identify people.

What is Milton’s infatuation with Tessie’s toenails? What compels him to play his clarinet on Tessie’s body? Who thinks do that? Why does this family have such an attraction towards each other? Why can’t Milton choose one of the girls his parents ask him to date? Why does Tessie choose Milton over Michael? Why does Milton join the Navy? I think it is interesting the comparison Eugenides makes between Milton and Michael on pg 179, skepticism vs. faith, kindness vs. hostility, pleasant looking young man vs. scrawny, pimply 4-f boy with circles under his eyes like a hungry wolf. Tessie picks, in the end, the more Americanized man, not the one relating to her Greek roots.