The narrator that Bausch creates here in this story is quite unclear but i think that's what works within the story. He seems disconnected from the rest of us but of course he would be considering he's called a phone sex line wanting to just "talk." I like how hes completely oblivious to the sole purpose of the hotline he's just called. Bausch makes him appear almost disillusioned with life, but we later learn he has a bit of a reason to be. His wife has left him, he's been thrown down the stairs by his brother-in-law, and his sister will never win "best sibling" award anytime soon. It seems that all he has is "Marilyn."
Its really interesting how the audience is presented with this middle-aged, college educated man who, one would normally think wouldn't call a hotline such as this. His name is as plain as Jane yet this girl, Marilyn(or Sharon which is found out later) finds him interesting enough to converse with him for the entire story before finally hanging up. The audience is drawn in automatically because we feel sorry for John. We automatically think "Why does this seemingly normal man calling a phonesex hotline?" Not that we assume the stereotypical father who doesn't do anything wrong and is perfect and lacking skeletons, but we're drawn into his feelings of selflessness. Its as if he thinks of himself as pathetic and we can sympathize with him.
Another way that Bausch draws the audience is by actually having the girl on the phone talk back with him. By learning about Sharon through John's eyes helps us understand him better. We understand the things she does that annoy him, and the things he likes and dislikes about the conversation. These things reveal the likes and dislikes during his own marriage. When Sharon attempts to understand him, the audience does also. The more and more Sharon opens up the more he opens up and the more the audience feels compelled to feel sorry for him and pity him. We want the relationship between the two of them to end well and we hope that Sharon can someone find it in her to comply with him. Yet at the same time we know that this whole conversation could just be an outlet...for both of them. One has to remember that Sharon has never been spoken to in this manner and there's reason to believe deep down she's enjoying it-revealing why she stays on the phone as long as she does.
Careful with terms. You call John a narrator, but he's not narrating the story; he's a character within the story. There really is no narrator, as we discussed.
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