Howie is a Little Kid at Heart
The main plot of The Mezzanine is Howie going to a CVS to
buy shoelaces. However, in his journey to the CVS, he constantly becomes distracted
going on tangents explaining why he needs shoelaces, events that trigger
childhood memories, and his unique yet common fascinations with everyday
objects. These tangents sometimes occur in the story while others are placed in
footnotes. Due to these side stories, the book becomes much more than just
Howie buying his shoelaces and the reader begins to bond with the main character.
Nicholson Baker plays with the concept of de-familiarization:
where he looks at objects for the first time again. This allows him to rant on
everyday objects with such enthusiastic interest; however, in doing so, the
reader begins to view Howie as a child since many of his revelations are
already known. This later becomes funny when Howie expresses his desire to
out-number his childish thoughts with mature thoughts: categorizing putting deodorant
on through an unbuttoned shirt that’s already tucked in as a mature action.
However, this revelation to Howie is commonly viewed as just “interesting” to
the reader. As Howie explains his quest for maturity to fully become an adult,
he overdramatizes simple objects or aspects like perforation, doorknobs, and
popcorn. Despite these long and almost childish rants on everyday objects, the
reader begins to share in this revelation, joining Howie in his glorification
of various simple/everyday objects.
Through these joined admiration tangents, the reader begins
to connect with Howie as the reader’s own childish thoughts begin to sympathize
with him. However, these moments where the reader bonds with Howie happen
because of Baker’s forceful narration. As a result of Howie becoming so ecstatic
about these revelations, it pressures the reader to have similar feelings compelling
them to agree with Howie. Granted, these rants are usually very relatable to
the reader which adds to the mutual admiration Howie and the reader feel.
Despite these thoughts being “childish” one can also make
the argument that through these enlightenment moments, Howie is “growing up” as
he discovers more about the world. Thus naturally “out-numbering” his childish
thoughts with mature thoughts as he continues to develop.
Overall, I think Nicholson Baker is trying to show people
through Howie that de-familiarizing yourself with reality can be quite fun but
also relatable as this ideology is a defining characteristic of growth. As The
Mezzanine shows us, everyone discovers the same things in the world at
different rates. At some point in time, things become general knowledge,
however the time when knowledge becomes general is highlighted in The Mezzanine.
Through this realization of general knowledge, he is able to connect with
readers in a more personal way.
Works Cited
Baker, Nicholson. The Mezzanine : A Novel. Grove Press, 1988, https://www.overdrive.com/search?q=354F93EE-B54E-418C-AE4F-2ABB64CDCCC6.
Hey Deven, fantastic blog post about Howies childish instances throughout the mezzanine. When reading the book I also came to a similar conclusion about Howie's character, I think that Howie continues to hold on to his childish moments of his life as in a way it defines him as a character and I found that extremely interesting. I think the fact that he tries to hold on to that part of self identity is what makes the book so relatable because to an extent I don't think anybody likes getting older. Keep up the great work!
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading this blog, because I feel the same way, because as a kid growing I always would think into everything with a creative side to it.
ReplyDeleteIt's true that the main "plot" of the lunch hour is Howie's heroic quest to procure shoelaces--and even seeing this as a major logistical challenge evokes the idea of a kid trying to pass as a grown-up, doing "adulting"-type stuff like competently patronizing a pharmacy chain to repair his damaged work shoes. But his other main goal for the lunch hour is, of course, to eat lunch. And I find his "lunch" on this particular day evocative of a kid's idea of lunch: he grabs everything on a whim, because he has a sudden urge, and he sure isn't taking nutrition into account. He's in the mood for a hot dog, he scarfs down a hot dog. He is reminded of popcorn and has to get himself a small bag, describing how he's shoving handfuls into his mouth and letting stray kernels trail behind him on the street--there maybe is no "mature" way to munch a fistful of popcorn, but Howie here seems supremely unconcerned about appearing like a valid and functional adult. And to top it off, he grabs a giant chocolate chip cookie--again, adults are perfectly capable of enjoying a cookie, but the idea of a BIG cookie as one of the main features of a workday lunch seems like a kid's idea of living the good life. And to drive it home, he has to have *cookies and milk*, the quintessential "after-school snack" in the old days--the milk seems like an especially kid-like detail, and he's hit with memories of drinking small cartons of milk in the cafeteria at school, where he would enjoy packing all his trash into the carton to throw it out.
ReplyDeleteI always think of this when Howie recoils from the Aurelius passage: hit with this savage truth about the fleeting nature of all human life, he retreats into the quintessential comfort food or "treat" from childhood--*can't deal with existential angst right now; going to fill my mouth with cookies and milk!*
Great post Deven. Howie's tendency to dive into tangent about everyday object not only reveals his childlike state of mind but also shows a deeper existential curiosity. He seems to be exploring his love of the innocent things and also the complexity of adulthood. Does growing up mean losing this sense of wonder? I think Baker clearly disagrees.
ReplyDeleteHey Deven, I think your point about Howie's adventure into everyday objects being childish is good but I disagree. I think his excursions into the fine details of everyday objects are instead intellectual and not childish. His thoughts show his maturity to be able to focus on small objects in detail something I would not imagine a child doing.
ReplyDeleteI highly agree with the statement you made at the end about each of us discovering the same things in this world at different rates. From that notion, I also developed the idea of us all having thoughts about certain things that are exclusive thoughts to ourselves. And this book makes that very apparent, because a lot of the things being thought about in this book are rather strange to us. I like how you expanded on your claim about how Howie's thoughts are child-like. I feel like we all have thoughts like that more often than not, and we grow from our past experiences, and from our present experiences. This was a nice blog post.
ReplyDeleteI really like the description of Howie's rants as childish. I think that the enthusiasm displayed for various things over the course of the book was written to present this exact comparison to some extent. The book focuses on the less impactful details in life, much like how a kid does not have as many responsibilities and can spend their time noticing the world around them. I also think that Baker encourages this connection in the way that Howie's work day plans out. The actual work seems to be cut out, and like a kid, all of his memories have to do with interactions and observations. I really liked this post, great job!
ReplyDeleteI felt the same way about Howie's general outlook on life for the majority of the book. The way he specifically analyzes seemingly normal things seems rather childish, as you put it. However, I appreciate how you talked about how Howie's demeanor begins to grow on the reader and how we start observing Howie's distinct character development. It's really cool that you discussed how general knowledge doesn't necessarily start very wide-spread; in the Mezzanine, I think Howie took that purportedly general knowledge and, like you said, de-familiarized it to ultimately shape the way he views the world and himself. Overall great post!
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