I really relate with Baker's passage on the plastic bags you get things in when you buy stuff from the gas station. I often go to the gas station to get snacks and the such as there is one near my house, and I always wanna keep the bags hidden even though I know that it really doesn't matter if anyone sees them. Just as Howie thinks that people want to keep what they buy hidden as they see it as their private information and no one else should see it. I also want to keep what I have bought hidden from others. I think it's really interesting how he talks about people wanting to keep their privacy, they see it as a very important thing, yet here Howie is, or really Baker, spilling pretty much all his thoughts about all these subjects to anyone who wants to read them. He tells about his childhood, L, his coworkers, and most importantly what he thinks about many of these subjects. He is just throwing away his privacy while telling us about how much people want to keep their privacy. How he wants to keep the privacy of his purchase hiding it in his plastic bag. Although it is hard to tell if this is Baker telling us about Howie's mind, but considering the book is from the perspective of Howie telling us about his thoughts during this escalator ride, I think it's okay to believe is is Howie who has decided to give up his privacy.
When in the gas station everyone can see everything that you will buy right up until you actually buy it, so really is he giving up that much privacy? Howie is is just putting it on a larger platform, namely into a fictional book. Does the plastic bag after the items are bought really help that much?
ReplyDeletePersonally I thought that passage was rather odd because he was focusing on a side-effect of getting a bag, not the main purpose. The primary reason we get bags is to make carrying many things at once easier, however the fact that our purchases are now also shielded from the rest of the world's prying eyes also does inevitably happen. This was one of the few things in the novel I had never given a thought to before and its very interesting to see that other people relate.
ReplyDeleteEliza btw^
DeleteAnd it's not even totally clear that the "reason" we get little bags whenever we purchase something (which for some reason tend to be stapled at pharmacies, at only pharmacies) is for "privacy"--it might be, or it might also be, as Howie notes, a way to signal when the item becomes the customer's property. When I walk out of Walgreens with my little bag as I pass the front register, I signal that whatever is inside is now *mine*, whereas I would feel like a shoplifter walking out with just a box of throat lozenges in hand.
ReplyDeleteYeah I also found it kind of ironic how Howie was talking about people's privacy when Baker is revealing basically all of Howie's inner thoughts to the reader. Another interesting part about that passage is that I had never really thought about hiding my purchased items or ever felt the need to, but after reading it, I somehow felt like I should.
ReplyDeleteI like the idea of Howie giving up his privacy through the book itself, but I think that the plastic bags and the book are two very different things. The plastic bag is in the moment and he may be able to feel the gazes of others or at least think that people are watching. The book is his own account and it is not catching him in the act, its what he wants to share and not he doesn't have to see anyone's reaction to it.
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting how you feel that Howie is giving all his privacy away by talking about all sorts of personal experiences. I had never thought about this idea and let alone its relation to the passage you provided. I think though, (sort of like you said) Howie wants to share this information and doesn't really mind who reads it. For all we know, there could be a million other ideas in Howie's mind that Baker created but didn't want to write and we can imagine some of these would have been too private for Howie to share. I can definitely relate to what Howie said about the plastic bags. Even though what I bought doesn't need to be a big secret, I like the privacy bags give us after we buy our items at stores.
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