Middlesex: Book 4: Go West, Young Man Summary & Analysis

Cal’s neighborhood of Schöneberg in Berlin has a large Turkish population, and he feels at home there despite the historic tensions between his ancestors and the Turks. He has requested to be transferred to the American embassy in Istanbul, and thinks that moving there would be coming “full circle.” Watching a German-Turkish baker making bread, Cal reflects that every person consists of “many parts, other halves.” 

In the past, a scrawny kid with long, hippie hair rings the bell of Ed’s Barber Shop in Scranton. The kid announces that he’s done with the long hair trend, and Ed concurs. The kid is “Cal Stephanides, teen runaway.” Cal has been teaching himself to move like a boy. As Cal sits down, Ed complains that he doesn’t understand young people’s preference for “unisex” hair, and expresses horror that boys want to be “shampooed.” Cutting off Cal’s long hair, Ed assures him that women will prefer him this way. Cal comments that just as Lefty and Desdemona fled home and reinvented themselves, so is he. He explains that from New York, he took a bus to Scranton, Pennsylvania. Frightened, he considered turning back, but the thought of the surgery kept him going.

Cal buys himself clothes at the Salvation Army in Scranton, though he feels that his haircut is by far the most important part of his transformation. When Ed shows Cal his new look in the mirror, Cal is stunned by how masculine he looks. The first thing he thinks of is the Obscure Object, and he is briefly overcome with heartbreak. Leaving the barbershop, Cal reasons that he looks like an arty prep school kid who could be 17 or 18. Cal wants to go to California, but the bus fare is more than he can afford. At a diner, he drinks coffee for the first time, with two packets of creamer and four sugars.

Although Milton and Tessie have warned him against it, Cal decides to hitchhike. He doesn’t blame his parents for wanting him to undergo surgery, as they just want what they think is best for him. A truck stops and the driver invites Cal into the Cab, which is grimy and strewn with garbage. The driver asks Cab to keep him awake by talking to him. However, it is the man himself who talks the most, while Cal listens. Cal gets out at a motel in Ohio. After spending the night there he continues to hitchhike through Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, and Nebraska. Cal’s mustache begins to grow out, and he lets his voice get deeper. He tells the people he meets that he’s on the way to begin college at Stanford. 

At first, Cal goes overboard with his performance of masculinity, but eventually scales back. In Iowa, he is picked up by a couple who drive an RV. He is pleased when he feels like they treat him as an adopted son, although he can also tell that there are still traces of the personality of a daughter within him. Cal buys men’s hygiene products and starts using the men’s bathroom. He is disgusted by the dirtiness of the bathroom and remains somewhat horrified of penises. He is afraid of being caught looking too closely, and his anatomy means that he needs to use a stall and sit to urinate, which he still does to this day.

Meanwhile, in the various motel rooms in which he sleeps, Cal learns about his “new body,” including how to make himself feel pleasure. In Nebraska, Cal is picked up by a man named Ben Scheer, who talks to him about existentialism, Andy Warhol, and the Theater of the Absurd. Cal likes Scheer, and thinks that he is the kind of man Cal himself would like to be. At one point, Scheer stops to buy wine, cheese, and olives, which they consume while they drive. That night, Scheer treats Cal to dinner, sneakily buying him a drink even when the waitress refuses to serve Cal alcohol because of his lack of ID.

After leaving the restaurant and getting back on the road, they drink more beer, until Scheer announces that he is too tired to keep driving and that he will get them both motel rooms. At this point Cal is very drunk, and collapses on the bed. Scheer tries to embrace Cal, but Cal pushes him away. When Cal wakes up in the morning, his shirt is undone, and Scheer’s pants are off. Cal showers and gets changed, then sneaks out of the motel. On the verge of tears, he considers calling his parents, but ultimately ends up continuing his journey, this time getting into a car that is going all the way to California.