The Mezzanine: Making the Insignificant Significant
The Mezzanine by Nicholson Baker follows a unique narrative style, zooming in on its main character’s internal monologue during his journey up his office’s escalator. On page 8-9, Baker expresses an interesting idea that speaks to the novel’s greater concept:
“Under microscopy, even insignificant perceptions like this one are almost always revealed to be more incremental than you later are tempted to present them as being.”
The book immerses readers in Howie’s mind in obsessive detail (microscopically) and in turn, forces us to slow down to understand his insights. For instance, the novel uses metaphors frequently to depict everyday observations, connecting multiple, seemingly unrelated things unexpectedly. Using these metaphors, Baker defamiliarizes everyday things, forcing readers to take time in order to understand the connections Howie makes. This aspect of Baker's writing forces readers to deeply contemplate everyday things despite the mundaneness they may expect.
Examples of defamiliarization begin on the first page, where Baker uses a metaphor used to describe the escalators: “A pair of integral signs swooping upward between the two floors they served.” In this case, Baker takes the familiar image of an escalator and forces readers to understand it from a different perspective, and in turn, slow down to contemplate their shared features. Interestingly, Baker uses integral signs—something more abstract and complex—to complicate the otherwise mundane escalator.
In another example, as Howie describes various “physical routines” (including stapling), Baker writes: “as you begin to lean on the brontosaural head of the stapler arm…” Like in the previous instance, the book connects the simple appearance of an 80s stapler to the seemingly unrelated dinosaur, complicating the image.
In both cases (and many others) The Mezzanine holds a microscope to “insignificant perceptions”, like staplers or escalators, and reveals their complicatedness by comparing them to seemingly unrelated things. Through this process of defamiliarization, readers see regular images from irregular perspectives, in turn, appreciating them in a new light. This literary device speaks to the novel’s greater intention: to make the insignificant significant.
Finn! I really love how you summarized Baker's goal of "making the insignificant significant" to the reader. You do a great job of providing specific examples in the novel while explaining the concepts of microscopy and defamiliarization. As you said, the books goal is to make the reader rethink their preconceived notions of everyday items, like escalators or staplers. I'm excited to see your post on Mrs. Dalloway and maybe how it compares to Howie's character!
ReplyDeleteHey Finn! I love how you discussed examples of Howie's defamiliarization of everyday objects (I especially loved you bringing up the "brontosaurus head of the stapler arm" which is probably my favorite example of this in the book). The way Baker uses microscopy to reframe reality as we know it and really make us think about how we perceive and think about the familiar was my favorite part of the whole book, especially with the inventive (but genuinely relatable) metaphors and analogies.
ReplyDeleteHi, Finn! Your blog is pretty similar to mine! I agree with everything you've said. It took me sometime to understand what he was talking about, but by the end I started to appreciate it. Nice work!
ReplyDeleteI like this account of how the narrative manages to compel readers to "slow down" both as we read and conceptually, as we reexamine our foundational assumptions about the familiar, seeing familiar things in a new light. I've tried over the years to account for exactly why I view this narrative as ART and not as some experiment in relentless documentation. When a good, original metaphor hits us, it should feel strange, even maybe nonsensical at first--we pause, we don't recognize familiar reality initially, and, as you say with the integral signs/escalator, we are compelled to find the points of connection, to SEE the escalator as a pair of integral signs, not just to "compare" them in terms of similarity. He's doing it on the first page, and this technique continues on pretty much every page after. Metaphor is key to this novel's method of microscopy.
ReplyDeleteHi Finn! This is a great post. Baker's way of defamiliarizing us with everyday objects was one of the most interesting aspects of The Mezzanine, particularly in the way that he forces us to make connections between things that we wouldn't normally think of as similar, like comparing integral signs to escalator handrails. One of my favorite examples of this technique was when Howie compared the bulky and out-of-date design of a tape dispenser to a Duesenberg car, which was a comparison I wouldn't have made normally, but one that made perfect sense when it was brought to my attention. Good work!
ReplyDeleteFinn, your explanation of how Howie (and Baker) decide to re-complicate the mundane world is really well done! Baker's metaphors throughout the book really help to de-familiarize the reader with Howie's world, making us all stop and think for a second about the comparison being made, and I think your blog shows this really well. For Howie, everything he comes across is interesting, and the microscopic view Baker throws us into really immerses us in the wonders of Howie's every-day life. Great post!
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