Other than The Obscure Object, Chapter Eleven is the only character who is never named and his nickname never explained. Cal says he won't name The Obscure Object to protect her identity. He gives no such reasoning for Chapter Eleven.
In a Q&A on the Oprah Web site, Eugenides addresses the issue:
In a Q&A on the Oprah Web site, Eugenides addresses the issue:
I am confused about why you refer to Cal's brother as Chapter Eleven, yet at other times you refer to him by his given name? — Stacy S.So that clears up what the nickname means. My question is, why? Why doesn't Cal reveal his brother's given name? Any ideas?
Cal, the narrator of Middlesex, never refers to Chapter Eleven by his given name. Neither does anyone in the book. The nickname, "Chapter Eleven," is bestowed on Cal's brother by Cal himself, retroactively, in the act of writing the book. If you can find a place where Chapter Eleven is called something else, Stacy, let me know, but I'd be very surprised. His "given name" is something I didn't give the reader.
As for the meaning of the nickname, that's another story. The character of Chapter Eleven is introduced in the first pages of the novel but it's not until page 512 that Cal provides clues as to what this name means. There's a long passage where Cal sketches what will happen to his brother in the years to come, but, unlike just about every other Stephanides family story, Cal elects not to go into it. Still, the hints are there and include the maxing out of credit cards, etc., all of which point to a situation that might involve something known in U.S. tax law as Chapter 11.
By the way, Stacy, your question is the question I get asked most often by readers of the book. The name "Chapter Eleven" really confuses people in Europe and Asia, as you might imagine. (No one files for Chapter 11 in Japan.) In some cases, Germany, for instance, where I know the language, I've worked with my translators to come up with an alternative. In the German edition of Middlesex, Chapter Eleven is called Der Pleitegeier. This refers to the circling buzzard that presages doom, usually of the financial variety. — Jeffrey Eugenides
3 comments:
Oh, that's interesting. I hadn't even thought of bankruptcy law until you mentioned it. Is the idea that he took Milton's hotdog empire and ran it into the ground, from sheer lack of business passion and know-how? Or is there a notion maybe that Hercules was simply doomed on its own? Is he referred to in this way, as "Chapter 11," because that's his chiefly remembered contribution to the family: bankrupting Milton's dream? Even if so, it's still curious. We could do several posts on names alone. He makes such interesting use of them, beyond the merely symbolic.
Plus it is in the 11th chapter of the book that "chapter eleven" is born to Milton and Tessie.
It's interesting that he is perhaps the least developed family member in the book, and the only one without a name. He doesn't contribute directly to Cal's genetic identity, had no real part to play in the reproduction drama. Is that why he remains nameless?
Plus he disappears from family life just as Calliope is beginning to discover Cal as puberty hits.
"He doesn't contribute directly to Cal's genetic identity, had no real part to play in the reproduction drama. Is that why he remains nameless?"
Good point, chica.
Post a Comment