Response to Aimee Bender's "Off"

One word penetrated my mind the entire time I was reading this story: quirk. Bender does a fantastic job creating a protagonist that is odd, unique, and likable on several levels. On the surface, this story is about a woman at a party who wants to kiss three men: one blond, one red-headed, and one black-haired. While this is her stated goal, I felt like she wanted so much more. She is obviously very wealthy, as is implied several times with lines such as “I am rich but I consider stealing some of the stuff because they are so trusting, these people, and I feel like wrecking their trust.” In fact, just in this small sentence alone, we learn a great deal about this character, not only socioeconomically, but personally and emotionally as well. This lady is rich, but she has no concern for social regard or standing. In fact, she seems to be ignorant to any social protocol and is preoccupied only with her own thoughts and ploys to amuse herself. So while her stated goal is to kiss three men, I felt like her deeper desire was to reject the social norms around her and instead pursue exactly what it is she wants to do at the moment regardless of what other people think of her.

            Bender creates a compelling reading experience in two ways: setting and characterization. To begin, I immediately felt immersed in descriptions and images that came to life in my mind’s eye without much work. From the bluish glasses with fluted stems to the protagonists’ metallic, gaudy dress, I felt like I could see it all and believe it. Bender then creates the persona of her main character by expertly combining disdain, humor, and of course, quirk. In the first paragraph, the protagonist is commenting on how everyone seems to buy the same things from glassware to clothing, so much so that “It’s enough to make you want to buy ugly except other people are having that reaction too and I spot three identically ugly pairs of shoes.” From this point on I decided that I liked this person. Her character continues to unfold as a delightfully devious individual with relatively harmless, but conniving intentions. Though the speaker of the story identifies an old dog of hers to have been named “Off,” I had no doubt that the title of this work also referred to the protagonists’ mental state. All in all, a very enjoyable read, and one which employed a kind of unique and endearing characterization that I hope to emulate in my writing.