Response to Aimee Bender's "Off"

This story was in first person, and in the present tense, both of which have been a little uncommon in our readings so far for this semester. This served to give the reader a very personal interaction with a narrator even when the reader may have very little in common with her. Also, the use of present tense served to characterize the narrator as a person who focuses very little on the past or the future, and instead focuses on the present. Also, the diction and syntax are all fairly simple, which emphasizes the immaturity of her character. She also strings together rather long sentences using many "ands", such as "I'm alone in the bathroom and I'm sitting on the sink and my butt is falling a little into the sink part, faucet on faucet, and I turn around to myself in the medicine-cabinet mirror and check my teeth and they are bright and white because last week I bought a new tooth cleaner and it's working and my eyeliner isn't smeared because..." (pg. 111). The sentence continues even longer. The short, simple clauses strung together with "ands" emphasize the immaturity of the narrator.

The author uses many small details to characterize her narrator. For example, the very first sentence is incredibly revealing: "At the party I make a goal and it is to kiss three men: one with black hair, one with red hair, the third blond" (107). Already, the readers are made aware that the narrator is young, at a party, and shallow. The topic quickly shifts to fashion, showing that the narrator is aware of trends and hates the commonplace. She outright announces that she is rich on pg. 109 which tells the readers she is blunt. The readers get an idea of how twisted the narrator is from her descriptions of the scenes she painted with violent weapons hidden in the landscapes on pg. 108.

The author also very casually adds importance to a very minor character, the hostess, without dwelling too much on her. Bender introduces the hostess in the very first paragraph, stating that "she likes to invite me to things because for one, she feels sorry for me and for two, she finds me entertaining and blushes when I cuss. It's how we flirt" (108). This mention of the hostess, as well as a vague recount of how all hostesses react to the narrator's fancy outfits, is only followed by one further detail about this character. On pg. 116, the narrator finally discloses a little information about her former relationship with the hostess, which seems to have deteriorated since then. The narrator is hesitant to discuss the hostess in any further detail. Bender uses this hesitance to suggest this deterioration. In the few details the reader receives, Bender is able to communicate the importance of this character. On pg 116, it is revealed that the narrator would "buy her a blue leather miniskirt or a sheer black slip and she would try them on at my house in the ultra-mirrored bathroom and model and pose. She refused to wear them out. She wore them just for me". The nature of the articles of clothing suggests some sexual tension, as well as the detail that "we never touched". All of this information is encoded into just a few sentences.