Character Analysis: Aimee Bender's 'Call My Name' Short Story

This essay provides a comprehensive analysis of Aimee Bender's short story, 'Call My Name.' The essay focuses on the character of the female protagonist, exploring her bold and independent nature, her desires, and her motivations within a patriarchal society. It examines her materialistic tendencies, her longing for independence, and the complexities of her character, including her lustful desires and the potential for a deeper longing for companionship. The analysis delves into the first-person narrative, highlighting the protagonist's courage, her open discussion of her desires, and her preference for selecting her own partners. The essay also considers the story's open-ended nature and the protagonist's internal conflicts, such as her indecisiveness and her shifting desires, concluding with an exploration of the themes of independence, societal expectations, and the complexities of female characters. The essay also includes references and a bibliography for further research.

Running head: LITERATURE
Literature
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author’s Note:

2LITERATURE
Call My Name by Aimee Bender is one of the most interesting short stories that talks
about the detailed and intricate female characteristics (Bender 1998). In other words the writer
has been successful in presenting the protagonist in a beautiful and yet bold way. The protagonist
is the female figure who is clear and also very courageous about the different wants and desires
that she wants to fulfill in her life. The writer has painted the entire story in first person narrate
where she is trying to portray the female figure as someone who is of an indomitable courage
and also is trying to make sure that her personal desires are not being wasted under this cruel
patriarchal world. This is because throughout the entre work she is trying to talk about her sexual
desires and also the kind of man that she would like to get.
It is evident from the story that she is of a very showy and snobbish nature. She likes to
show off her wealth and her dress. The very opening line of the story that is ‘’I’m spending the
afternoon auditioning men.’’ This line is evident of the fact that she was a woman of immense
courage and she wanted to make sure that he gets the right to select the man of her choice rather
than anybody else telling her to do so. This is because she wanted to keep her choices and her
preferences in the first place and made sure that she gets the upper hand of selecting the partner
of her choice. The major trait of her character is the fact that he is bold and she never steps back
in openly talking about her own desires and her likings.
She is also lusty in nature she talks about her sexual desires. Throughout the entire work,
readers can get many examples where she is talking about the different body parts in a very
subtle manner. The character uses many sexual undertones in order to make sure that the readers
are able to understand about the different ways in which she is imagining her sexual encounter.
She is however motivated by the materialistic pleasure and also the money that her parents have
kept for her. Even when she is naked and is tied to the chair inside the man’s apartment she is

3LITERATURE
talking about the riches that her father has left her and she also points out the fact that her father
was a millionaire and it is bad on the part of a man to keep her naked inside his apartment
without paying any attention towards her. She is also talking about the different materials that are
present in her house like sofa, television and also remote control. This is evident of the fact that
the protagonist is attracted towards the materials aspects of her life and is also taking a huge
pride in mentioning about those.
However it can be said that one if the greatest motivation of her life is that she is
independent and she can enjoy her freedom. This is one of the major prominent traits of a female
character during a patriarchal societal set up. This is because she is enjoying her freedom in
selecting the person of her choice. However there are both positive and also negative aspects
present within each and every character. This is because of the fact that there are some negative
aspects that are present within the character. This is evident because there is presence of lust
within the character. This is evident because she was only concerned about getting a suitable
man who can give her the best feeling while they are making love, however there is a mystery
that still remains in this part. This is because there is also a possibility that she is longing for true
love or a kind of companionship because she has always longed for a close dependable
relationship that she has never got in her life. However this is still not very clear because she is
only talking about the sexual happiness and the satisfaction that she is longing for. It is evident
from her life story that she has both her parents but yet she is longing for the warmth and the
companion that she is looking for.
She is motivated by the dresses and the other materials that can be purchased in exchange
for money. However at the same time, she pretends to be happy within these ruches but she is
actually not happy in this part. She is only trying to come to terms that she is happy and that she

4LITERATURE
will remain satisfied within all these materialistic pleasures. However she is did not want to go
back to her own place when the man asked her whether she wanted to go back or not. She
thought to herself that going back would be boring and she actually does not want to go back to
the same old place. It seems that dilemma or confusion is one of the prominent traits of her
character. This is because she changes her mind every now and then. This is because at one hand
she does not like the man as he did not involve in any sexual activities with her and on the other
hand she does not even want to go back to the same old unfriendly place where she belongs.
She is happy as she feels that she is winning over at every instance but at the end it is
seen that she is unable to fulfill her wish as
she could not make the man involve in any sexual activities with her. It is however a
very open ended text on whether the protagonist is actually winning or is losing at the end. She
was unable to get the man involved in any sexual activities but at the same time she was happy
as she got a good helpful company.

5LITERATURE
References
Bender, A. 1998. jstor.org. [online] jstor.org. Available at: http://www.jstor.org/stable/25126201
[Accessed 24 Feb. 2020].
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