Use of Symbols in Paul's Case Essay

represent Paul’s life. The author describe the flowers lifespan as meaningless and hopeless, doomed for death. This describes how paul feels about his life. He realizes his self worth within the flowers. Once you cut a flower it wilts, and inevitably dies. “It was only one splendid breath they had, in spite of their brave mockery… and it was a losing game in the end, it seemed, this revolt against the homilies by which the world is run.” Like the flowers, he felt like life was always a losing battle. This was his depression. At the very end of the passage, carnations foreshadow Paul’s death. Foreshadowing is another rhetorical device. “Paul took one of the

Paul begins to make frequent visits to the university library in an attempt to discover more about Keller's past. Incidentally, he discovers a couple having sex on the floor and decides to watch on. In his mind, this makes Paul thing about having sex himself. And in turn having sex with his first crush at his new school Megan Murray whom he admits to the sexual dreams he has had about her and despite her appreciation, she rejects him. After returning back to school Paul meets new student Rosie Zollo, who falls for Paul however he initially finds her annoying. After the advent of Pauls newfound sexual maturity, Paul will fall for Rosie. "Each day my eyes seemed to be opened just a little wider, and more of that sun-drenched town of lush garden, scents, and sexuality seemed to cram itself in. Nothing I heard in that dark, humid room in the Swam had much place in my new world.." later on the couple share their first sexual experiences with each other. Megan, who Paul later has sex with, regrets it and realizes his love for Rosie. This shows Megan who is a symbol of Pauls sexual adolescence and was really only a depiction of physical attraction. Pauls maturity then blossoms when being around Rosie who he learns to love and care for her in a way that he had never cared about Megan. His love for Rosie grows so deep he then begins to sadly ignore keller and begins to miss lessons to be with

Because flowers go in cycles of life and death, we can look to them as archetypes. The cycle is really closely related to the circle which is a very prominent archetype in the world today and the past. The other thing I think of when I hear the word flowers is gardens. When I looked for the garden archetype I found that gardens symbolize love and fertility (YourDictionary 2). Flowers and gardens also have many symbols associated with them depending on who you ask.

Seemingly, the flowers represent Elisa. She believes she is strong and tough and able to accomplish anything thrown her way; however, taken for granted as she is only a woman allowed to look and act accordingly. Surrounding the flowers is a wire fence set up to keep out predators and to separate the flowers from the rest of the farm. The wire fence is symbolic in the fact that it is identical to the world Elisa lives in. Elisa is contained within the farm, unable to explore or leave without the help of someone else. Elisa is stuck on the farm, isolated from the rest of the world so that she can be kept safe. Naive and unaware of how the world works, her husband keeps her on the farm to protect her from harm. When Elisa gives the chrysanthemum to the travelling merchant, she gives him a small piece of herself. Later, as her and her husband are driving to town, she sees the flower tossed aside as though it was nothing; as a result, she realizes she could never go off on and live the way the merchant had. The flowers embody her character still, and how out of her home without protection, the world can be harsh and cruel. In short, Elisa’s isolation leaves her ignorant, unable to understand how callous the world is, and comes to the bleak realization that she can’t live a life anywhere outside of her fence. Because of how women were treated, constantly pushed down and unable to pursue their interests, Elisa is left unable to learn what life has to offer. Learning

In The Great Gatsby, being with Daisy is Gatsby’s goal. A daisy is a white flower, and this places the color white as a color that represents Daisy. This is ironic, as although Daisy is pure in Gatsby’s, she is in fact tainted by he marriage with Tom Buchanan. Furthermore, flowers are ephemeral, which suggests that the affair that Gatsby and Daisy have will be brief, and will eventually die. In Miss Julie, flowers represent sexuality and courtship. Lilacs are present on the set of this play, and symbolise youthful love. Lilacs bring Jean and Miss Julie together. However, just like daisies, lilacs are ephemeral and eventually die. This symbolises the death of Jean’s opportunity to climb the “slippery trunk” through Miss Julie. Gatsby and Jean’s dreams are destined to die from the very

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

In John Steinbeck's short story, "The Chrysanthemums," he uses the flower to symbolize his main character's thoughts and ideas. There are many examples of such symbolism in this work.

     Paul D. was just starting his new freedom. His journey to the North from the South provided him with the most important experience of his life. He hid and received advice from many helpers. He was told by Cherokees to “follow the tree flowers” (119) to get to the North. Flowers are known to be beautiful and colorful objects. As Paul D treks to the North, he is following the flowers to his freedom.

Paul's father had abused him emotionally, and probably physically, throughout Paul's life. He did so much to Paul's flagging self-image that he had to boast to others to make himself feel big, when he felt tiny inside. When he finally achieved that "bigness" that he always wanted, the glamour of "the good life," his father found him out and took that away from him, or rather, made Paul give it up. This made Paul feel even smaller and made him feel that he would be better off dead. So Paul decided to make his life "better off" and

In Paul's true reality he has a lack of interest in school. His disinterest in school stems from the alienation and isolation he has in

In Paul’s true reality he has a lack of interest in school. His disinterest in school stems

The setting of the short story “Paul’s Case” is clear and appropriate for the story. This is because Paul's feelings in the story happen to have a direct connection to the setting of the story. The East Coast of the United States is where the story takes place. From Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to Newark, New Jersey, and then on to New York, New York, the exact setting differs throughout the story. “…the dull dawn was beginning to show grey when the engine whistled a mile out of Newark” (Cather). At this point in the story, the main character, Paul, is on board a train which has departed from his hometown of Pittsburgh en route to the Jersey City Station. From there, he plans to make his way to the glamorous New York City, a city

The main symbolic image that the flowers provide is that of life; in the first chapter of the novel Offred says “…flowers: these are not to be dismissed. I am alive.” Many of the flowers Offred encounters are in or around the house where she lives; it can be suggested that this array of floral life is a substitute for the lack of human life, birth and social interaction. The entire idea of anything growing can be seen as a substitute for a child growing. The Commander’s house contains

Keller was one not only to teach music, but he taught valuable life lessons to Paul. Paul’s teacher is eager to educate him so he can learn from his experiences and be able to succeed in life and his future ahead. Keller offers Paul a new method of playing piano. His philosophy is that you must be “cruel to be kind”. In this case, Paul must learn to listen well before he begins to play. Keller also becomes a father figure or mentor to the young Paul. Another lesson taught from his teacher Keller, is arrogance and humanity. In this regard, Keller wants Paul to have the benefit of his own life experience.

In the myths the stories of the flowers are made in order to explain the nature around people. In the flowers’