In the peculiar novel The Mezzanine by Nicholas Baker, we follow the character
Howie, a middle aged man working a typical office job in the 1980s, as he goes to CVS to buy replacement shoelaces. Through his depictions of his work life, we meet some of his coworkers, and significantly we meet his boss, Abelardo. But when Abelardo is mentioned, his words shift slightly to reveal something bubbling behind the words on the page. What is Howie’s real relationship with Abelardo, his boss? Is it more intimate than he claims?
Howie casually drops Abelardo into the narrative with this sentence: “Abe-should I keep hammering it on these people or should I drop it?,” a sentence written on the briefs he’s waiting to file. Abe is a rather casual nickname for a boss, and the sentence is written with such loose, casual language one would presume Howie was close with Abe. But Howie states the opposite throughout the narrative, insisting “Abe” is merely his manager/boss, as is mentioned every time Abelardo shows up in the novel. But the evidence doesn’t match up with the narrative spun about their distant relationship. Why the casual language, why the nickname, why the sense of closeness when you read the message Howie wrote for Abelardo if they weren’t close at all?
Examining the scenes with these two together leads us to chapter four of the novel, where Howie puzzles over which petal on Ray’s get-well-soon card to sign. He nearly signs the petal next to Abelardo’s, then switches petals, saying:
“I almost signed, and then luckily I noticed that my boss Abelardo’s tall and horizontally compressed conquistador signature, with lots of overloops and proud flourishes, was located one petal over on the very same flower I had chosen. To sign my name so near his would have been vaguely wrong: it might be construed as the assertion of a special alliance (my signature being closer than Dave’s, or Sue’s, or Steve’s, who also worked for Abelardo.)” This card-signing scene can be interpreted as evidence to Howie’s complicated feelings towards Abelardo because of his concern of the social implications of having his name physically closest to his bosses. The fear that this name placement could suggest a “special alliance” shows that Howie is conscious of a potential closeness between them and is actively trying to control how that closeness appears to others.
Another piece of evidence hinting at an intimate relationship between Howie and his boss lies in the bathroom scene of the novel in chapter eleven, when Howie’s thoughts are scattered by Abelardo coming out of a stall. And the interaction that happens afterwards is far from merely casual:
“And there I abandoned the topic, because Abelardo, my manager, emerged from a stall.
‘What do you think, Howie?’ he said; it was his standard greeting-- one I was fond of.
‘Abe, I don’t know what to think,’ I said; my standard response. I adjusted my glasses in the mirror so they weren’t crooked, knowing that they would revert to their normal slight skew in five minutes.”
From the beginning of the interaction itself, we sense tension as Howie’s thoughts scatter merely at the sight of Abelardo. Throughout the book, the sight of different characters provokes additional thought for Howie, leading him to go on tangents. Abelardo is the only character who manages to break this pattern. So why is Howie so flustered by the sight of him, flustered enough to start adjusting his appearance, making sure he looks good in front of Abe? And his emotional response to Abelardo’s greeting, describing it as “one I was fond of”? No ordinary office worker would be fond of their boss’s greeting, not without an intimate relationship lying behind the words. Howie’s reply further cements this intimacy, by saying “Abe, I don’t know what to think,” possibly implying that he has no words because he is so starstruck by his boss. Even if that isn’t the direct implication of his response, fondness lies in the response he gives, which apparently, is also his “usual response”. And when Howie leaves the bathroom and starts whistling while he leaves (possibly expressing his joy after being able to talk privately with Abelardo) , Abelardo starts whistling right with him, almost like a call and response between the two.
Overall, although The Mezzanine never directly mentions any sort of intimate relationship between Howie and Abelardo, I believe that it may possibly exist, the clues lying just below the surface in textual evidence. Their relationship was just hidden due to the stigma around same-sex relationships in the 1980s.
Examining the scenes with these two together leads us to chapter four of the novel, where Howie puzzles over which petal on Ray’s get-well-soon card to sign. He nearly signs the petal next to Abelardo’s, then switches petals, saying:
“I almost signed, and then luckily I noticed that my boss Abelardo’s tall and horizontally compressed conquistador signature, with lots of overloops and proud flourishes, was located one petal over on the very same flower I had chosen. To sign my name so near his would have been vaguely wrong: it might be construed as the assertion of a special alliance (my signature being closer than Dave’s, or Sue’s, or Steve’s, who also worked for Abelardo.)” This card-signing scene can be interpreted as evidence to Howie’s complicated feelings towards Abelardo because of his concern of the social implications of having his name physically closest to his bosses. The fear that this name placement could suggest a “special alliance” shows that Howie is conscious of a potential closeness between them and is actively trying to control how that closeness appears to others.
Another piece of evidence hinting at an intimate relationship between Howie and his boss lies in the bathroom scene of the novel in chapter eleven, when Howie’s thoughts are scattered by Abelardo coming out of a stall. And the interaction that happens afterwards is far from merely casual:
“And there I abandoned the topic, because Abelardo, my manager, emerged from a stall.
‘What do you think, Howie?’ he said; it was his standard greeting-- one I was fond of.
‘Abe, I don’t know what to think,’ I said; my standard response. I adjusted my glasses in the mirror so they weren’t crooked, knowing that they would revert to their normal slight skew in five minutes.”
From the beginning of the interaction itself, we sense tension as Howie’s thoughts scatter merely at the sight of Abelardo. Throughout the book, the sight of different characters provokes additional thought for Howie, leading him to go on tangents. Abelardo is the only character who manages to break this pattern. So why is Howie so flustered by the sight of him, flustered enough to start adjusting his appearance, making sure he looks good in front of Abe? And his emotional response to Abelardo’s greeting, describing it as “one I was fond of”? No ordinary office worker would be fond of their boss’s greeting, not without an intimate relationship lying behind the words. Howie’s reply further cements this intimacy, by saying “Abe, I don’t know what to think,” possibly implying that he has no words because he is so starstruck by his boss. Even if that isn’t the direct implication of his response, fondness lies in the response he gives, which apparently, is also his “usual response”. And when Howie leaves the bathroom and starts whistling while he leaves (possibly expressing his joy after being able to talk privately with Abelardo) , Abelardo starts whistling right with him, almost like a call and response between the two.
Overall, although The Mezzanine never directly mentions any sort of intimate relationship between Howie and Abelardo, I believe that it may possibly exist, the clues lying just below the surface in textual evidence. Their relationship was just hidden due to the stigma around same-sex relationships in the 1980s.
