Response to Aimee Bender's "Off"

            “Off” follows the story of a young woman in pursuit of last minute romance at a dwindling party.  The setting remains the same throughout as the narrator swings from room to room of the same house.  She sets a goal (presumably she’s met these goals before) to kiss three guys: one with dark hair, one with blond hair, and one with red hair before the end of the night.  The meaning behind her motives remain unclear, however the story does imply the subtle loneliness of the character.

            The first person perspective of the story is key.  Bender was sure of her sentence structure and grammar when she was entering the mind of this character.  The sentences are long and disjointed, representing inner thoughts well and showing the scatter-brained motives of the narrator.  I found this to be very effective in the storytelling.  Even though this gives us a pretty clear idea of how the narrator operates, it robs the reader of the knowledge of any other characters.  The other people in the story never give their direct opinion of the narrator, but they do show brief glimpses of animosity towards her.  We do learn that she has always been known as the girl in school with a trust fund.  Then, she keeps referring to possessions, either that of herself or the people around her.  This gives the reader a faint idea that this woman is incredibly materialistic, cynical, and spoiled.  She is determined to get what she wants.

            I wasn’t quite sure what to make of the title or the ending.  I presume that the man who pulled her from the small mountain of coats will have a chat with her and tell her how out of line she was.  With the way everyone reacted to her “stealing” the coats, I can only imagine that they all dislike her and think her to be a bit crazy.