Vicki Bernacki

English 302
Mark Patterson

Howie's Development from Childhood to Adulthood: Objects and Their Auras

“To pry an object from its shell, to destroy its aura, is the mark of a perception whose

“sense of the universal equality of things” has increased to such a degree that it extracts it even

from a unique object by means of reproduction” (Benjamin 223). In other words, according to

Walter Benjamin’s essay The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction, the mechanical

reproduction of objects, which stems from society’s perceived equality of these objects, is

responsible for their destroyed auras. Through Benjamin’s theory, applying it more so to things

we consider as objects rather than art, once we begin to perceive objects as having universally

equal value, we reproduce them. It is through this reproduction that we strip the initial original

object, the object that is being reproduced, of its aura. In Nicholson Baker’s novel, The

Mezzanine, Howie comes across three significant objects during different stages of his personal

maturation, objects that can be labeled as mechanically reproduced and seemingly insignificant

in today’s society. Because of this mechanical reproduction, these objects are without aura, yet

through his deep cognizance and reflection of them, Howie creates personal auras for himself as

a child, as an adult, and during the transition between the two. When analyzed in their

chronological order of appearance in the novel, the objects Howie encounters and creates auras

for can be viewed as symbolic to his development and transition from childhood to adulthood.

In his discussion of aura, Benjamin also discusses the ritual aspect of art, which we can

apply to objects as well, “In other words, the unique value of the “authentic” work of art has its

basis in ritual, the location of its original use value” (224). Here we observe Benjamin’s

argument that the aura of an object originates in the ritual it was originally intended to be used

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 for. Once that ritual aspect is lost, the object loses its aura. Keeping in mind this ritualistic

portion of Benjamin’s theory, we can evaluate how the narrator in Baker’s novel, Howie,

constructs an aura for the object of milk. After exiting the womb, our first source of nutrition is

milk. It is an object that is associated with childhood and slowly withers in significance or usage

as we mature. At some point, milk stops being the main source of sustenance, and at a further

point, milk simply becomes something that one may add to their coffee for taste or use to wash

down their cookie. In Howie’s case, he constructs an aura for milk during his childhood, but as

he moves from childhood into early adulthood, the magnitude of that aura fades.

Howie writes about milk and his childhood fascination with it fairly early on in the novel

as he reflects back on his early life. His memories of this object revolve around the ritual

associated with it back then, the delivery, “A man opened our front door and left bottles of milk

in the foyer, on credit, removing the previous empties—mutual trust!” (Baker 43). Considering

this delivery aspect as the ritual associated with milk, we can argue that it is what gave the milk

its aura, its uniqueness. Howie continues to reminisce about this ritual, and he admits that it

has been lost for the most part. However, although this ritual aspect of the object of milk has

slowly deteriorated over time due to “mechanical reproduction” as Benjamin would say, young

Howie’s aura in regards to the object has not. Long after the transition of milk from home

delivery to presence in supermarkets, young Howie still displays a fascination towards it.

Although he has accepted that the ritual of home delivery is gone, he seems to have developed

a new ritual in regards to milk that has to do with the packaging of the milk. Reflecting on his

first encounter with the milk carton, Howie writes, “the radiant idea that you tore apart one of

the triangular eaves of the carton…an ideal pourer, a better pourer than a circular bottle

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 opening…you could create a very fine stream of milk…something I appreciated as I was

perfecting my ability to pour my own glass…” (Baker 42). The vivid imagery and personification

with which Howie writes about such a simple and seemingly routine everyday action shows how

captivating, fresh, and unique he finds it. One would not typically use words such as “radiant”,

or “ideal” when discussing a milk carton; one would seldom find a reason to discuss a milk

carton in the first place. For this symbolically childlike object of milk, Howie has created a

personal aura by discovering a ritual aspect of an action that can so easily be considered a

meaningless routine.

This creation of aura for milk marks the initial stages of Howie’s life, and tracing the

object further we can observe how, as Howie transitions from childhood into early adulthood,

the milk loses significance in his life. This transition begins during Howie’s first year of college, “I

have lately turned against milk as a beverage. In my first year of college it became widely

believed that “milk makes more mucus”…” (Baker 46). This makes Howie more apprehensive

towards milk, and this apprehension heightens when he discovers his girlfriend L’s aversion and

allergy to milk, “I, influenced by L’s dislike, began to feel uncomfortable when I saw the semi-

opaque coating left on the side of a glass of half-drunk milk…” (Baker 46). An object that once

triggered in Howie such fascination that he created an aura for it has now lost the magnitude of

its previously held magic. He no longer uses language that evokes positive imagery, such as

“radiant” or “ideal” when writing about the milk. Instead, Howie opts for words such as

“uncomfortable”, and adds that the milk gives him “bad breath” (Baker 46). This evident change

in attitude towards the object demonstrates that most of its aura is fading in Howie’s mind, yet

further in the novel, as Howie feels the need to drink it as a supplement to his cookie, we see

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 that maybe not all of it has faded. What is important here is that the aura has been constructed

in the first place, and that it was constructed during Howie's childhood.

Through this comparison of Howie’s regard towards milk from the beginning of the novel

to this point near the end, we can trace how his formation of aura for it progressed alongside

his personal development. In his childhood, milk is something that seemed to have lost its aura

due to mechanical reproduction and very easy accessibility in grocery stores, a phenomenon

that Benjamin would refer to as “the desire of contemporary masses to bring things “closer”

spatially…” (223). Young Howie proceeded to construct an aura for the milk, finding in it a fresh

fascination through its container and the way the container caused the milk to behave. In his

college years, the fascination and positive connotation that milk spurred in Howie withered, as

he learned of milk’s contribution to the formation of mucus and of his girlfriend’s aversion

towards it. This fade of aura can be logically attributed to Howie's transition out of childhood, as

milk is something that typically loses its significance as one gets older.

Further marking his transition between childhood and adulthood, Howie proceeds to

create Benjamin’s concept of aura for an object he encounters every day on his way to work: the

escalator. This object acts as both a physical and symbolic mechanism of transport, moving

Howie from the lobby to the mezzanine, and from adolescence into adulthood. During the

earlier stages of his career at the office, Howie views the escalator as a supplement to walking,

not a replacement for it. He grows very frustrated and bitter when people in front of him stand

still instead of walking up the escalating stairs, “Sometimes I rudely halted at the step just below

the one the [person] stood on, my face a caricature of pointless impatience, tailgating them…”

(Baker 101). Analyzing the escalator using Benjamin’s theory of aura, we can also confidently

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 state that this is an object that has been mechanically reproduced over time and has therefore

lost its aura. Benjamin also writes how a reproduced object lacks in one element, “its presence

in time and space, its unique existence at the place where it happens to be” (220). As Howie

rides the escalator, he disregards the escalator’s presence, focusing instead on reaching his

destination as quickly as possible. He does not fully appreciate and realize the existence of the

object because it is not unique to the world, nor is it unique to him; there are millions of

escalators in the world, and Howie himself has seen and ridden several escalators in the past.

Again, due to this lack of uniqueness of the object, the object holds no aura.

However, in the more recent stages of Howie’s career at the office, we see him begin to

construct an aura for the escalators. Although he uses it more and more, Howie’s appreciation

for the ritual of leisurely riding an escalator, and not walking up it, grows. As he stands behind

fellow passengers on his way up to work, Howie writes, “I relaxed with them; it was natural, it

was understandable, it was defensive to want to stand like an Easter Island monument…I never

brought my long leisurely trip to an early end with steps of my own…” (Baker 102). Once more

Howie’s intricate descriptions of his newly acquired manner of riding the escalator reflect the

aura he has created for the object. He now appreciates the escalator as an object, re-ritualizing

his own ritual of riding it. As Benjamin states in his essay, “The uniqueness of a work of art is

inseparable from its being imbedded in the fabric of tradition” (223). In other words, an object’s

uniqueness comes from its traditional aspect, or its ritualistic aspect. Howie’s new ritual of

standing on the escalator instead of walking up it brings to the object an air of uniqueness, and,

according to Benjamin, with uniqueness comes aura.

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 Following the end of Howie’s ride up the escalator, we can pinpoint the completion of

his ongoing development throughout the novel to his encounter with, and creation of aura for,

one last symbolic object. Upon finally reaching the mezzanine, on the very last page of the

novel, Howie comes in contact with this last object: a cigarette butt. Unlike milk, cigarettes are

associated with maturity rather than with childhood. Although an obvious health hazard, a

cigarette symbolizes adulthood. Howie’s encounter with the cigarette at the end of his escalator

ride confirms that the escalator is a mechanism for his transition between adolescence and

adulthood. Looking closely at the way he writes about the cigarette, it can be argued that Howie

begins to construct an aura for it, “…I caught sight of a cigarette butt rolling and hopping…[I]

turned to watch it…Its movement was a faster version of the rotation of mayonnaise or peanut

butter or olive jars…” (Baker 135). Just as he did for the milk and the escalator, Howie devotes a

fair amount of imagery-evoking language to describe an object one would normally see as

insignificant and worthless. Cigarettes are mechanically reproduced, and through Benjamin’s

eyes, lack aura. Howie’s description of the cigarette butt suggests that he observes it with

freshness, viewing it as unique and significant. Going back to Benjamin’s theory that the

uniqueness of an object is what creates its aura, we can observe that Howie has personally

created an aura for the cigarette through the uniqueness with which he views it at that moment

in time.

Comparing the three objects discussed, the escalator, the milk, and the cigarette, it can

be argued that the chronological order in which these objects appear in the novel, and the

auras Howie creates for them and somewhat loses in the case of the milk, represent different

stages of Howie’s development. As stated before, milk is an object that is often associated with

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 childhood. In Howie’s early life, the ritual aspect of milk fascinates him and leads him to create

an aura for it, even after the age of its mechanical reproduction. Later in Howie’s life, as he

progresses into adolescence, the milk loses some of its aura, which makes perfect sense as we

view the milk as a symbol of childhood. Signaling the next stages of his development, Howie

creates an aura for the escalator, an object that both literally moves him from a lower state to a

higher state, and symbolically begins to transition him from young adulthood into adulthood. It

isn’t until the very end of the novel as Howie steps off the escalator that we observe the

completion of his transition into adulthood. During this stage he encounters and creates an aura

for a cigarette, an object that symbolizes adulthood and confirms the end of his transition.

Overall, by analyzing this novel using Benjamin’s theory, we can observe how Howie creates

auras for objects that have become aura-less due to the way they are mechanically reproduced.

Furthermore, Howie’s creation of auras for these objects can be aligned with his development

from childhood to adulthood, especially when looking at the symbolic nature of the objects and

their chronological appearances throughout the novel.