Self-imposed Estrangement in Paul's Case Essay

Paul also openly criticizes conformity frequently throughout the story. Paul’s criticisms can be seen in his detailed observations of people and their routines. However, none of these criticisms compare to Paul’s hate for his home on Cordelia Street. Cather describes Cordeila Street, noting that all the houses are identical, as well as its inhabitants. Following the description of the street, Cather describes Paul’s hatred for his mediocrity plagued home is expressed: “Paul never went up Cordelia Street without a shudder of loathing… he approached it to-night with the nerveless sense of defeat, the hopeless feeling of sinking back forever into ugliness and commonness that he had always had when he came home”(Pg. 5). Later on in the story, while Paul is in New York and is contemplating his fear of being reprimanded for his actions, he constantly reminds himself of the painful existence that awaits him on Cordelia Street: “It was to be worse than jail, even; the tepid waters of Cordelia Street were to close over him finally and forever. The grey monotony stretched before him in hopeless, unrelieved years”(Pg. 13). Cather seems to use Cordiela street as a all-encompassing metaphor for conformist society; and Paul’s individuality and hate for Cordiela Street serves as the contrasting element, in turn becoming the most

     Paul is the main character in Willa Cather’s short story titled, “Paul’s Case”. Paul is a very troubled young man who believes he is destined for greatness. He was always in trouble at school and was never content with being himself. Paul had a very troubling past where his father would constantly emotionally abuse him and was always looked down upon at school. Paul feels that his is stuck where he his and cannot control his own future. One symbol used in this story was Cordelia Street. This is the street that Paul grew up on and he talks about this street as being boring and common, much like his life. Paul has a real problem with his past and how to escape it. Because

The antagonist of this story is Paul’s father who just wants his son to be normal. Through out the story, only one side of Paul’s father is shown. This means that Paul’s father is a flat character. Paul’s father is a strict man and expects more out of Paul. But more is easier said then done because of Paul’s deep depression that everyone sees but does nothing about. When Cather writes, “his father called at the principle…” on page one, this shows that Paul’s father does want what is best for him by calling the school to explain Paul’s behavior. Also, on page nine, Cather writes, “… the young man who was daily held up to Paul as a model….” This quote shows that Paul’s Father has it in

Yet another example of the brutalization and dehumanization of the soldiers caused by the war occurs during Paul’s leave. On leave, Paul decides to visit his hometown. While there, he finds it difficult to discuss the war and his experiences with anyone. Furthermore, Paul struggles to fit in at home: “I breathe deeply and say over to myself:– ‘You are at home, you are at home.’ But a sense of strangeness will not leave me; I cannot feel at home amongst these things. There is my mother, there is my sister, there my case of butterflies, and there the mahogany piano – but I am not myself there. There is a distance, a

the love and care he unknowingly needs. Paul takes on roles that disguise his own traits and turns him into what he believes to be a person nobody can say no to. When he takes on these roles, he

Paul has an obsession with the arts, which serve as either an outlet or cause for his individuality, while at the same time bringing a certain understanding about Paul's unique persona to the reader. Cather illustrates this obsession frequently; for example she writes: "It was not that symphonies, as such, meant anything in particular to Paul, but the first sigh of the instruments seemed to free some hilarious and potent spirit within him; something that struggled there like the Genius in the bottle found by the Arab fisherman"(Pg. 3). However Paul's obsession with the arts is not necessarily healthy either, and serves almost as an addiction, as he has no desire to pursue a career in the arts. Although Paul seems to escape his daily struggle with conformity, and become lost in the dream world that these medias create for him, his desire to remain in a world of fantasy motivates him to lie and steal. This addiction is the reason Paul makes up stories in school about fantastic voyages he never takes, lying to his teachers, stealing money from "Denny & Carson's" (possibly a law firm?), and using the stolen money to pursue his fantasy: "what he wanted was to see, to be in the atmosphere [around the music and arts], float on the wave of it, to be carried out, blue league after blue league, away from everything."(Pg. 8) Even though Cather in some way justifies Paul's pursuit of his dreams through this addiction to the arts,

Paul has got an old university friend, a character who is very important for this book. His name is Ed Finnerty. He is the fatal character for Paul because he is the one who makes Paul realize his real position and all the people's real positions. He is

Paul was a self-oriented boy, concerned with money, wealth, and glamour, raised in a Calvinist household that supported these ideals. Through my research I have decided that Paul's eventual fate was not any one person's fault. Paul was just as much to blame as his father and teachers for Paul's suicide.

Willa Cather introduces the audience to Paul who lives in two distinct worlds. The industrialized middle class neighbourhoods of Philadelphia. Contrasted by the beautiful world of theatre and art, at Carnegie hall. Paul feels trapped by the mundane existence of the middle class, and is drawn towards his idealized life. A life of quality and meaning, full of beautiful people and interesting things.

After being forced to leave his job as an usher at Carnegie Hall Paul gets a job working at Denny and Carson's office firm. He gets the money to go to New York City by taking the money he was supposed to deposit in the bank from Denny and Carson's deposit and pockets it. Paul arrives in New York and lives the luxurious life by buying fancy clothes and checking into a nice hotel. After eight days in New York his fun runs out when he discovers in the Pittsburgh papers that his father had reimbursed the firm and was coming to get him. "Paul had just come in to dress for dinner; he sank into a chair, weak to the knees, and clasped his head in his hands. It was worse than jail, even; the tepid waters of Cordelia Street were to close over him finally and forever" (Cather 11). After succeeding

The only place Paul is able to escape his reality and unfulfilling life is at Carnegie Hall. Carnegie Hall is a haven for Paul and gives him the classy atmosphere of the arts that he lacks in his life. He has an usher job at Carnegie Hall and unlike his house and school, Paul enjoys going there to work. He is able to escape and be with the rich and attractive people that come to the hall.

From the subtle quirks and eccentricities in one’s tone of speech, to the sensations of rancor and bitterness that are palpable in a violent outbreak, all human activity is programmed by a complex phenomenon known as the human personality. The case of what constitutes this enigma is one of the many controversies that are analyzed and broken apart in Vincent Parrillo’s chapter, “Causes of Prejudice.” In particular, human temperament is expounded in Parrillo’s passage, and further observed and experimented with in Willa Cather’s short story “Paul’s Case.” Parrillo correlates one’s childhood upbringing and surroundings to the maturation of an authoritarian personality, akin to Paul’s rough development that contributes to his fervent prejudice of the middle class and ultimately, himself.

Paul`s life is in chaos as he is attempting to uproot his entire life by creating a façade to appeal to the white upper-class. It is this façade, however, that gives Paul control in his life as he is finally able to belong to a family with the Kittredges. This imbalance in Paul`s life causes him to be an Other because he has changed his entire life to simply swindle wealthy whites.

Nowadays there are numerous parents that design their children’s lives and take vital decisions for them. In “Paul’s case: A Study in Temperament” Willa Cather, the author, shows the reality of youthful dissatisfactions and the common failure of families to understand the needs of their children. Paul’s character is very controversial. He is seen by some as a hero because of his ethical goal, while others think that he is a villain who committed several crimes. In my opinion, he is more of an “outlaw hero”, which is a person who takes the wrong actions for the sake of an ethical purpose.

There is a recurring pattern of Paul losing himself into thoughts. Paul at times sinks into depressing thought patterns with negative outcomes. This is one of the symptoms of depression caused by alienation. Cather, showing the influence of imagination on a teenage boy, describes the stories that Paul often makes in his head. Those stories are either governed by a longing to get rid of sickening feeling or by the overwhelming depression that takes over his “picture making mechanism”. When he gets back home late after following the opera soloist, he sneaks in to the basement. Sitting there, he imagines multiple scenarios in his head of negative outcomes. Cather describes those scenarios as, “Suppose his