If you were to ask me what my big take away from The Mezzanine was, I would say that it can be largely explained as a story about how people perceive others and how people feel about themselves being perceived. Throughout the story, Howie rides up the escalator and ponders different moments of his life in great detail, dissecting what he was thinking in the moment and what others were thinking about him. As the story goes on it is revealed that one of Howie's biggest fears is being perceived, more specifically being perceived as odd or unusual. While he moves through his day, Howie takes great care in overanalyzing every possible interaction with others and making sure it is normal. For example, on page 60 Howie describes seeing Bob Leary descending the escalator right as he himself is going up an escalator to The Mezzanine.
“His face was so familiar that his ongoing status as a stranger was really an embarrassment … we would have to make eye contact and nod and murmur or stonily stare into space, or pretend to inspect whatever belongings could plausibly need inspection on an escalator ride, wrenching past that second of forced proximity as if the other person did not exist.” -Page 60
In his head Howie goes through the various possible routes he could take to avoid interaction because he wants to avoid awkwardness at all costs. He notes that he feels like he and Bob do not have a close enough relationship to warrant an actual greeting, but also the fact that they aren't closer after knowing each other so long is an embarrassment in itself. Ultimately, Howie completely avoids the encounter by pretending he forgot something and stepping away from the escalator. Howie is so nervous about how Bob Leary will perceive their interaction that he would rather simply delay his ascent. This displays Howie's personality and shows his anxiety towards being perceived poorly in an awkward encounter. However, as I continued to read I began to think about how I related to Howie. How many times have I walked by someone in the hallway and unsure what to do pulled out my phone only to stare at my homescreen until they passed me?
The next day in class, someone else pointed out the passage about Bob Leary as their choice for the notebook prompt. They also related to the awkward interactions with acquaintances in the halls and worrying about what other people thought during those brief passes. What I had first interpreted as just a unique Howie trait actually turns out to be a common sentiment. The more I considered it, the more I realized that as I go throughout my day a majority of my actions are at least slightly influenced by how the people around me perceive me. I want to be perceived as smart and so I take care to only raise my hand when I’m sure I know the answer. I want to be perceived as funny so I try to joke and feel embarrassed when a joke does not land. Although in The Mezzanine Howie takes his fear of being perceived to the next level, worrying about what others will think of him in the bathroom, The Mezzanine ultimately does reflect a very human quality in wanting to control how people see you.
Overall, although I am not a huge fan of The Mezzanine, I do admire how Baker was able to capture many almost uncomfortably relatable moments through the lens of Howie's inner monologue.
Written by Julia
Hey Julia, I think you did a great job in developing you claim of relatability shown throughout the novel. It is apparently pretty common to use your phone as an excuse to avoid an interaction and I am sure if Howie had a mobile phone he would have mentioned this tactic too. Overall great work, I'm sure you had a great peer reviewer.
ReplyDeleteThis is such a great post! I also wasn't a big fan of the book but I agree that Baker does a great job kind of 'calling out' all the things many of us (and Howie) do day to day. I also love your argument of actions being driven by outside perception because I think it's something almost everyone goes through, and it's arguably important to talk about---like, why do we need outside approval even for small tasks like passing someone in the hallway? Overall, your argument and the examples you use work great together and you just did a great job.
ReplyDeleteHey Julia, this is a great post. Howie is such a relatable guy, from how his train of thought can go everywhere from just one small idea to what you’re talking about, with his anxiety about how he is perceived. Personally I can definitely relate to trying to use some excuse like my phone to avoid a potentially awkward interaction. Everyone can probably relate, as we want to control the image people have of us in their heads.
ReplyDeleteYour point about Howie being uncomfortably relatable sticks out to me - he’s almost too similar to us in a way you don’t usually get in fiction. You make a lot of great points, thanks for the post!
One of the things I appreciated most about this book was how relatable it was---sometimes it's easy to assume that all the little awkward moments we experience are unique to us, so it's incredibly refreshing to see it acknowledged in a piece of media and realize, "oh, thank goodness I'm not the only one". I think we can all relate somewhat to the fear of being perceived, and I appreciated how Nicholson Baker was able to illustrate that fear so vividly in The Mezzanine (Blogger still won't let me italicize...). Thanks for posting about this topic!
ReplyDeleteComment written by Naomi:
ReplyDeleteHi Julia! First of all, great blog name, very clever. Second, I liked what you decided to focus on in this blog post! I definitely agree that people tend to focus a lot on how they’re perceived, and I like the examples you have because they’re very relatable. I too am definitely guilty of avoiding hallway interactions. I do agree that Howie being this nervous about the bathroom is definitely next-level though, but I think the absurdity is partially why it’s so funny (and embarrassing to Howie). Anyway, great blog!
I agree that Howie is acutely aware of how he is seen by others, and this tendency to "overthink" social interactions does strike me as somewhat common--although it's the kind of common thing we can't really verify, as this overthinking is usually invisible and silent. It's maybe a little reassuring to realize that "everyone" shares these rarely articulated social anxieties, and there's maybe something brave about Baker/Howie's willingness to use themselves as an example, "confessing" these tendencies in the narrative.
ReplyDeleteIt reminds me of something another acutely self-conscious writer, David Foster Wallace, wrote on this topic: to paraphrase, if we knew how rarely others actually think about us at all, we'd be relieved. No one is paying attention to the little "I just thought of something" gesture at the bottom of the escalator, in other words. We can all just relax a bit!
Julia — Yes, the novel is so relatable. It's so human, and in a way, it sort of "calls us out" as readers, applying greater significance to everyday things that we seldom think twice about, and defamiliarizes these silly social performances we are so used to. That's why it's so uncomfortable, in my opinion; we all do these things, but they seem so silly when Howie details his experience so excruciatingly. It also speaks to Howie's childishness as a character. He feels like such a fake adult sometimes. It's great commentary on the human experience!
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ReplyDeleteI also related this passage quite a bit, and I think it shows how, at
this moment, Howie is still in that ‘child’ aspect we spoke so much
about in class. There’s this notion that adults have everything figured
out, are confident, and can always make the most mature and
rational decision. I think Baker was trying to show that, while adults can make decently more rational decisions and be somewhat more aware of those around them, there will always be this level of
uncertainty within your interactions with other people, and that’s always going to influence how you act around others, whether consciously (in the case of both you and Howie) or not. It’s
realistic, but these few paragraphs help to show Howie’s humanity.
Hey Julia! I love that you call them "uncomfortably relatable moments" because I feel like that is so spot on. While looking at it from an outward lens, Howie seems extremely focused on how he is perceived, yet I feel like if I were in his situations, I might feel pretty uncomfortable as well. While I don't think I have flat out avoided people, I have definitely pretended not to see them or taken out my phone to look busy. So many traits of Howie seem so foreign to me until I realize I am so similar.
ReplyDeleteAlso your blog is so cute oh my goodness
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