Highmore, Ben. “Familiar things.” Ordinary Lives. London and New York: Routledge, 2010: 58-85.
In Ben Highmore’s Ordinary Lives, his chapter “Familiar things” is an insight into the argument of the meaningfulness of objects in our everyday lives. Highmore’s claim begins by creating a relatable situation in saying that there are tons of things in our homes or daily lives that we interact with but pay no attention to. Highmore goes on to say “Things act on us and we act on things. There seems to be a symbiotic relationship between them and us.” Highmore’s argument engages a process of meaningfulness that is not portrayed by the average human being. As humans, we ignore the things around us and do not necessarily appreciate them for the work …show more content…
There are four different names given to these objects; Sherry Turkle calls them ‘evocative objects’, Donald Winnicott called them transitional objects, while anthropologists and psychoanalysts call them totems and fetishes. Highmore gives an example of such an object by speaking about a film in which a characters last word before his death, turns out to be the name of a sled that he played with as a child. This is future explained because we attach ourselves to things and become invested in their presence with a degree of emotional intensity. How objects can become significant and “charged” is described by the process of cathexis. Cathexis is the transfer of energy from a person to another person, or thing, or idea. “Perhaps the most commonly cathected object is the childhood toy.” Winnicott said that childhood toys become a site of affective and emotional experiences for young children. Highmore proceeds to use a child’s toy known as “Murray” as an example, and saying that when a child has an emotional connection to the toy, they are treated as more than just an object by anyone that lives with or loves the child it belongs to. Showing that some objects are treated better when the emotional worth is increased. A quote by Freud, shows that not only are these objects and their personalities born, they also die. If a material is destroyed or just doesn’t work anymore, it loses the sentimental value and we must come to terms with that. Death in this sense is not traumatic, but just makes sense. Highmore states that we have an inherent sense of jealousy towards objects, because they are non-living and therefore can have the same lives as us without doing. “Nothing resides in this world with such ease as a thing: nothing seems so still and so content.” Highmore ends by saying “Familiar things call attention to time and call time on attention.” Meaning that we pass by
In Ben Highmore’s Ordinary Lives, his chapter “Familiar things” is an insight into the argument of the meaningfulness of objects in our everyday lives. Highmore’s claim begins by creating a relatable situation in saying that there are tons of things in our homes or daily lives that we interact with but pay no attention to. Highmore goes on to say “Things act on us and we act on things. There seems to be a symbiotic relationship between them and us.” Highmore’s argument engages a process of meaningfulness that is not portrayed by the average human being. As humans, we ignore the things around us and do not necessarily appreciate them for the work …show more content…
There are four different names given to these objects; Sherry Turkle calls them ‘evocative objects’, Donald Winnicott called them transitional objects, while anthropologists and psychoanalysts call them totems and fetishes. Highmore gives an example of such an object by speaking about a film in which a characters last word before his death, turns out to be the name of a sled that he played with as a child. This is future explained because we attach ourselves to things and become invested in their presence with a degree of emotional intensity. How objects can become significant and “charged” is described by the process of cathexis. Cathexis is the transfer of energy from a person to another person, or thing, or idea. “Perhaps the most commonly cathected object is the childhood toy.” Winnicott said that childhood toys become a site of affective and emotional experiences for young children. Highmore proceeds to use a child’s toy known as “Murray” as an example, and saying that when a child has an emotional connection to the toy, they are treated as more than just an object by anyone that lives with or loves the child it belongs to. Showing that some objects are treated better when the emotional worth is increased. A quote by Freud, shows that not only are these objects and their personalities born, they also die. If a material is destroyed or just doesn’t work anymore, it loses the sentimental value and we must come to terms with that. Death in this sense is not traumatic, but just makes sense. Highmore states that we have an inherent sense of jealousy towards objects, because they are non-living and therefore can have the same lives as us without doing. “Nothing resides in this world with such ease as a thing: nothing seems so still and so content.” Highmore ends by saying “Familiar things call attention to time and call time on attention.” Meaning that we pass by