Howie's Relatability
In class, we all seemed to be in
agreement about awkward social interactions in reference to Howie’s avoidance
of Bob Leary on the escalator on page 60. However, this is something that I find
myself thinking about a lot, especially in such a small town as Champaign-Urbana.
The most awkward part is when I see people who I used to go to school with
before Uni. Since I left the Urbana schools after 7th grade, I was
never really sure if my old peers remembered me. This uncertainty has landed me
in many awkward positions over the years, unsure of whether to acknowledge
someone I went to middle school with for fear that they wouldn’t remember me.
However, this fear goes both ways and I sometimes find myself hoping certain
people have forgotten me. These always seem to be the people who see me,
recognize me, then acknowledge me, leaving me walking away from the encounter
cringing and wishing I had just decided to stay home. However despite my large
number of awkward encounters, I don’t think my reactions have ever been as
embellished as Howie’s. They usually involve me feigning interest in something
behind me, hoping they won’t see my face, or ducking behind my mom in line at
the grocery store.
We all have
awkward interactions as a part of life, Howie is human and Baker’s portrayal of
him reflects that. The difference however, is that Howie is very much the type
of person to go over interactions in his head and replay them for long after
the experience has ended. I myself, turn around, cringe and tell myself “that
sucked” and then continue on with my day doing the best to erase the incident
from my mind for the rest of my life. The way that Howie drags it out and
dissects it makes it seem like the experience is much more embarrassing than it
actually was.
In this, we
recognize in Howie things we see in our daily lives, yet looking at it through
Howie’s eyes makes it seem somewhat foreign to us because we all have different
responses to awkward social interactions. This is somewhat similar to the white
slate idea, because looking at daily life through Howie’s eyes allows us to
recognize the similarities we all have in our day to day life, yet our
reactions to such experiences are what separate us and give us all a different
perspective on life despite experiencing similar realities.
I agree, whenever I see someone that went to my old middle school I think "do I have to say hi, do they remember me?" It always ends in a unfortunate and awkward incident. We either awkwardly look at each other and say nothing or we exchange awkward hello's. I, like Howey think about these things for longer then necessary. "Should I have said hi? Do they think I'm rude because I didn't?" I see how Howey can be so "relatable" because a lot of the things he discussed are things that happen in everyday life. An example of this would be when you need to ask a teacher a question but someone is in front of you. I wait there for a few minutes and then I realize I need to rush off to my next class. I leave awkwardly and cringing to myself "do they hate me? Do they think I'm rude?" This was similar to when Howey was talking to the secretary and he wanted to leave.
ReplyDeleteI agree and especially like your last point because it kind of connects with what we talked about in class about how we start to see things through "Howie glasses." The way Baker explains in great detail every thought and feeling that Howie goes through during an awkward social interaction makes me think about my social interactions in more depth and consider what might be going on in the other person's mind as well. After reading The Mezzanine, I have unconsciously been thinking more about some of the trivial things in life, especially overthinking the awkward social interactions like you talked about. I also found his awkward interaction with Tina to be relatable as well because I have been in situations before when the conversation stopped and we didn't know what to do afterwards.
ReplyDeleteYour description of Howie's awkward interactions was something I constantly kept thinking about during the discussion! One of the biggest things I admire about Baker is his ability to write down what I am unable to describe with words. From his descriptions of awkward interactions as you stated, to the description of how a cookie feels in his mouth. These are all everyday, mundane descriptions, feelings, and experiences I and most people have encountered. Yet Baker is able to pinpoint these small instances, and articulate it in such an incredible way, which is why holistically, the Mezzanine is such a relatable and humorous book to all of us. It doesn't only provide insight into Howie as a character, but also to us as human beings.
ReplyDeleteI agree, I wonder if the more extreme thoughts Howie has is because the perspective of this book is that it is written after all this happened looking back. Personally when I am looking back at social interaction later that day I think of a million other ways I could have reacted and how I could have handled the situation. This may have allowed Baker to be more elaborate with his description of the awkwardness.
ReplyDeleteI love your relation between Howie's interaction (or rather, lack of) with Bob Leary and your seventh grade experiences. I really love how Baker has all these little details that are so relatable to us - they're like little Easter Eggs that make us laugh and nod. The entire book gives me a sense of déjà vécu.
ReplyDeleteLike Angelynn, I also admire Baker's ability to seize and expand one tiny moment of anything. I particularly appreciate the characterization this does for Howie and the book in general. Without these little instances of connectedness and relativity between Howie and the readers (us), there is no character, and therefore no novel (at least, according to Virginia Woolf). Moments such as these serve to distinguish the book from a philosophy on straws and Aurelius, and establish Howie as a fellow human in his own right. (It also makes the book much more enjoyable - Howie is a pretty funny guy!)
The spin you're placing on Howie's reactions to awkward encounters is really interesting. Personally, I can relate much more to Howie in that I'll replay scenes in my head until they're far more embarrassing than they actually were. But I do find that he still seems a bit foreign. He does the white background trick with everything, and this just takes it to a bit of an extreme. Or perhaps not. Maybe this just takes it to a level that can cause upset. Certainly, the level to which he analyzes his interactions is no more than the level he analyzes everyday items. But it will definitely cause more anxiety than simply thinking about everyday objects.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I've definitely had experiences like yours. Just this week I saw someone from my elementary school whom I recognized at an event. We were in a group conversation and she introduced herself, then said she knew me already, didn't I go to elementary school with her? While not awkward it was extremely odd, and didn't do a lot to alleviate the concern that people will forget you over time. If you remember them, they'll probably remember you, unless you never actually interacted directly with them. :)
As a character I felt that Howie is meant to be in a way relatable and his awkwardness in certain social situations is something everyone has experienced to some extent. I don’t know if I would go as far to say that seeing these experiences through Howie’s eyes always necessarily render them foreign. In some cases, such as the elevator scene, I would say this idea applies. However, often seeing these scenes as Howie does brings a thread of recognition of similar situations in our life.
ReplyDeleteI wish people from my old schools would forget me more because honestly I cannot stand 90 percent of them. Because of these feelings, I also found it relatable when we read the scene where Howie avoids the elevator to avoid simply saying hi to someone he sightly knows. I also seem to drag out a situation much like you say Howie does, I always make it out to be work than it actually is.
ReplyDelete