Summary Of Paul's Case By Willa Cather

There are small altercations that the screenplay that the director makes in the plot. In New York, Paul meets a student in the hotel. In the text, he meets him in the evening or at nighttime. The movie shows this taking place during the day. This, however, is a minor detail and did not effect the running of the story. In Cather's version, the reader is presented with two sisters of Paul's. These are hardly mentioned in the movie. The book also illustrates Paul pushing his teacher while in the movie he is more aggressive. The movie also has an over voicing of Paul's father as he is sneaking back into his

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

Moreover Paul was forced to feel the guilt at a young age, causing him to become frustrated, and that is when he decides to escape from Deptford and runs away with Le grand Cirque forain des St. Vite (Davies, 148), “‘He was my only teacher till I ran away with a circus.’” (Davies, 265).

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

Willa Cather's "Paul's Case," displays the conflict between conformity and individuality through the main character, Paul. On a number of occasions, Paul is forced to lie and steal to escape the conformists who wish to control him and stifle his unique imagination. However, his lying, stealing, and attempts to escape the conformists, only force Paul into isolation, depression, and feeling a sense of shame for his individuality. Throughout the story one might see Cather's constant contrast of individuality versus conformity, as well as Paul's lying and stealing. Cather seems to draw the conclusion that extreme individuals, much like Paul are simply misunderstood, and not offered the acceptance they desire

Paul was never content with his house on Cordelia Street and was always dreaming about "movin' on up" while he worked at Carnegie Hall and watched the actors and actresses move about in their stately attire and live in the most luxurious of hotel suites. Because of this dream to get out of the area in which he lived, Paul hardly ever got along with his teachers and his father. The thought of taking full advantage of

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.

in his quest to the live the life he always wanted, Paul not wanting to face his father and his true reality takes his own life by jumping in front of a train. He could not live with

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.

Paul finally escaped the hostile world he lived in, but his money-bought romance did not last long. When he discovers that his theft has been made known in the new papers, and all the stolen money has ran out, he knew he had to go back to his real life. After a week of having the glamorized life he was longing for, Paul refused to go back to face the reality that he left behind in Pittsburgh. Paul knew he couldn’t go on forever in the City with no money in his pockets so he decided to give up on his own life. While going to get on his train that would bring him back to reality, Paul stepped out in front of it and killed himself.

With his whimsical, eccentric, and somewhat selfish outlook on life, every reader could relate—in one way or another—to Willa Cather’s protagonist in “Paul’s Case.” Paul, who just believed he was misunderstood, was continuously perceived as diverse and bizarre by his peers, neighbors, and even his own father. By not taking any interest in the dull, drab, and dim everyday life of the average person in Pittsburgh, Paul was consistently criticized and belittled by others. Along with not enjoying the typical endeavors as the average “normal” boy his age, Paul also grew up without a mother; therefore, Paul really did not receive any kind of parental love or affection. To add to it all, Willa Cather stereotypically portrayed Paul as being homosexual throughout the entire story.

During this time, Paul contemplates a plan to ask his father for a cab fare. He will tell his father that the money is to make it over to his friend’s house, when he is really planning on making his way to New York City. This escape to New York City is a way out of his life that he is struggling to get through. “The east-bound train was ploughing through a January snowstorm...” (Cather). Now, aboard a train to New Jersey, Paul is longing for the beauty of New York. After the train stops in Newark, Paul hopes to spend a night or two in town and then get on board another train that will take him to New York. The time part of the setting impacts the story greatly, since the story is based in the winter. Winter represents the end of things in literature and it is in this winter, that Paul goes on to commit suicide.

Willa Cather expresses her boredom and dissatisfaction with the typical and expected American way of life. Cather, during her time writing for a magazine, became unhappy writing the standard articles she had to write. Instead, she wanted to focus her time on more controversial, sensitive pieces (Cather 369). She expresses her feelings through Paul, in “Paul’s case: A Study in Temperament” by making Paul an outcast in his society. Paul is miserable with living the American dream, which gives insight to Cather’s modern age thinking. The way Cather creates a character that does not fit in, gives the message that not everyone is the exact same when it comes to what makes him or her happy. Forcing people to conform to societal standards can have

The protagonist in Willa Cather's short story, "Paul's Case," is adolescent named Paul. Paul's problem is that he has trouble following rules. Paul has a problem with various kinds of authorities including his teachers, principal, and father. From Paul's perspective, his problem is society. Society does not conform to him and repeatedly makes attempts on him to conform to it. Paul is disgusted, repulsed, and bored by middle class life in Pittsburgh. Paul's real problem is that he lacks perspective. This is a young man that is ferociously hungry for life outside of a small town or small city, which is partially the reason why he steals $1,000 and flees to New York City. Paul does not have an appropriate outlet through which to explore and channel his exuberant and odd energy. It is only when he is committing suicide by throwing himself in front of an oncoming train that he is capable of imagining a life both outside of the life he left behind, but not so far outside in the margins of society that cannot be a contributing member of society. Paul craves new experiences that expand his horizons and challenge him in ways unknown to him in his life back in Pittsburgh. His lack of perspective keeps him from being available to the myriad of choices he has in life but does not yet see. Ironically, it is only when his life is about to conclude when he realizes how much he wants to live and do. These feelings are often expressed by people who have

“Paul’s Case” by Willa Cather is one of the most common short stories that has been redrafted. It was originally published in McClure magazine and it was later added to Cather’s first collection named The Troll Garden. As stated by DeFrancis, “Cather is comfortable looking backward, but going certainly forward” (111). Modernism was all about reinventing their ways to express themselves (Lathbury & Booth Linehan 6). The Modernist literature was one that did not show any definitive genre and it was more of a narrative source, in other words chaotic (Lathbury & Booth Linehan 6). “Paul’s Case” was a short story that was based on a man who was trying to escape his unhappy life. He is in a school in which the faculty think he dislikes them and they begin to lash out at him. Paul then goes to Carnegie Hall to work as an usher and acts as if he is just as luxurious as those in the fancy venue (Cather 202). When Paul returns home daily he feels more depressed about his middle-class neighborhood and is disgusted by where he lives. He begins to lie at school about having close friendships with individuals in Carnegie Hall and he is then alienated from everyone in his classroom. The modern man faces similar issues as the men in the modernist era. The modern man faces self-pity, self-doubt, and being considered as overly ambitious and/or devoted. “Paul’s Case” is a story that examine these three qualities of the modern man.