Response to Richard Bausch's "1-900"

            From the opening lines of Richard Bausch’s “1-900,” it is blatantly obvious that it is the structure of the piece that makes it unique. Not only does the story avoid the usage of quotation marks, but also the entire piece is told in dialogue. There is no narrative voice to explain the situation or to provide the thoughts and feelings of the characters. Instead, everything that is normally explained by the narrative voice must come through the characters’ dialogue. How Sharon and John speak to each other, what they say (or don’t say), and how they phrase it all conveys the more intricate emotions and back stories that more traditional narrative forms would reveal through a narrative voice.

            Because “1-900” lacks a narrative voice, the reader is forced to fill in details that are normally provided for them. There are no physical descriptions, so the reader is able to imagine what John might look like. Is he tall or short? Fat or thin? Is he bald? The image of John that the reader creates for himself is influenced the things John says. Conversely, the meaning behind John’s words is colored by how the picture the reader creates of him. For instance, while reading “1-900,” I got the sense that John was a bit desperate for companionship. He has no one to talk to because everyone special in his life has abandoned him. This led me to picture John as a man of average height who is beginning to go bald and has a slight paunch, but overall, he is not unattractive. While his words led me to this imagining of him, it also helped me to feel sympathy for his situation. This imagining is also possible for Sharon. For Sharon, I drew her description mainly from the things she refrained from saying, which are indicated by ellipses. She refuses to give her age and is reluctant to talk about her personal life, especially her relationships. Because of this, to me, Sharon is a young woman, probably in her mid-twenties, who is moderately attractive, but lacks self-esteem, and as a result, does not take good care of herself.