In The Mezzanine by Nicholson Baker, among the most memorable sections is the end of the novel in which Howie reads Marcus Aurelius’s Meditations. Almost immediately after picking up the book, Howie is horrified at the Stoic philosophy present within it, specifically its references to life as “trivial” and “transient.” Like we discussed in class, I think a lot of this makes sense due to how The Mezzanine focuses on minute details of various technologies, and tangents that are probably meaningless in the grand scheme of things. When thinking further about the tenets of Stoicism not included in the initial quote that shocks Howie, I think many more of them are unaligned with Howie’s worldview and lifestyle.
One of the central principles of Stoicism that came to my mind when thinking about The Mezzanine is the acceptance that many things are out of your control. The Stoic view that human life is bounded by the laws of nature and the Gods almost seems to directly contradict ideas of free will. When reading through The Mezzanine, Howie struck me as someone who absolutely wanted to be in control of his destiny. Throughout the novel, Howie continuously scrutinizes the smallest, least impactful of decisions that he makes in order to remind himself that he is in control of his life. The novel is set off by Howie’s decision to buy cookies and milk, a decision which he justifies in immense detail. Throughout the novel, Howie revels in a sort of childlike freedom that he is able to experience even through the smallest of actions. For example, on page 4 Howie extensively digresses about having one hand free at all times so he can slap “the top of a green mailmen-only mailbox” (Baker 4). Additionally, Howie’s obsession over different, unconventional methods of tying his shoes shows that he takes deep pleasure in doing completely standard things in his own way.
Though it’s moreso a connection I made, I wouldn’t completely rule out the possibility that Howie has contemplated things like this. He clearly takes a deep interest in philosophy evidenced by the fact that he is reading Marcus Aurelius’s Meditations in the first place. One can also figure this out by the fact that he makes references to John Locke, Baruch Spinoza and Wittgenstein, or the fact that Immanuel Kant is included on the list of his most frequent thoughts per year (Baker 58). The idea that Howie has thought about free will, a common subject in the works of all of these philosophers, is pretty plausible to me. The way that Howie lives his life, obsessing over miniscule occurrences and treating the most pointless of decisions with the utmost importance implies to me that he would be threatened by Stoicism’s insistence that we aren’t completely free. It’s for the fascination over the most trifling choices that Howie has perhaps the most interesting, and liberating life philosophy I’ve ever encountered.
