Who Is Paul Selfish?

It is as if Paul lives in the sun and knowledge of the world, baring that burden while others in society live in darkness with slight sliver of light from the moon believing they know the world to its full extent when in reality they are blind and in the dark. This affects Paul since he possess ideas from another point of view that others have no clue about. This is important because without the knowledge that Paul posses, he would be like his none the wiser parents, which would affect the story a great deal. For example, on page 152, Paul tells his friend, “Don’t do this. Don’t come in here with attitude.” Paul knows how to adapt to the places around him and knows that by accepting the facts and the brunt of the blow, they will accept him begin to

The choices that Erik made throughout his life never came without consequences, many of his choices, whether they were choices directed to him or not, affected Paul. Paul illustrates this idea by saying, “When we moved to Houston, when Erik was eleven, he realized that football was the star attraction,”(Bloor 29) This is talking about the “birth” of the “Erik Fisher Football Dream”; Erik use to play soccer and was successful at it, but he realized that football was the place to be if he wanted attention. Paul could’ve started playing soccer at that time as well and Erik didn’t want to risk being outshined by his younger brother. Another way Erik affected Paul, in a more indirect way, was when Arthur becomes Erik’s crony, “What will Arthur do

When he comes home to everyone living perfectly unaffected lives, he feels his life has been flipped upside down. Paul speaks very nostalgically, as if he wishes he could go back to his former self that fit in so well, but now that he has seen so much suffering, he literally “cannot comprehend” the frivolity of their actions.

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

In her short story "Paul's Case," Willa Cather tells the tale of a young boy's struggle to separate himself from his common, everyday life and the people he shared it with. Paul admired the opulence of the theater, the wardrobe, the perfumes, the lights, the colors, the flowers, and the champagne. When he realized it wasn't possible to have these things, he threw his life away. Cather's purpose was to show that, by focusing on what he didn't have, Paul could not live at all.

He takes his obsession of proving to his peers how special he is by showing them “autographed pictures of all the members of the stock company…telling them of his familiarity with these people” (Cather 219). However, in actuality, his contact and similarities with the actors of Carnegie Hall is minimal, and he remains an outsider. He is removed from the actual life of these people, but feels he is engaged in it. By thinking of himself extraordinarily, but having no aspirations, Paul becomes “the adolescent longing for something-anything-different. Defiantly unproductive, he fails to “develop” himself” (Herring). Paul ignores his lack of talents and focuses his sense of superiority above the population of Pittsburgh to his interpersonal relations with the actors at Carnegie Hall in New York City. While Paul may have no talent, or desire for talent, he continues to exhibit his egocentrism behind a cover of arrogance and lack of empathy.

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

A choice that Paul made demonstrates his lack of desire for self fame in the book on page on 198 to 199. “Mr. Donnelly called out “Come over here, Paul!” He and his photographer had set up a shot with Cesar and Maya. It was comical. Maya towered two feet over Cesar. “Come on, we need you to balance out this shot.” I shook my head. “No sir. It shouldn’t be me. It shouldn’t be me. It should be Victor.” Paul chose not to take all the glory for himself and instead let Victor have a turn. In previous chapters, Paul is portrayed as a character who isn’t noticed too much because he lives in the shadow of the Erik fisher football dream. Once the spotlight decided to shine on Paul for

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

All in all, Paul makes so many choices that affect him throughout the

This quotation is referring to the horror and the personal aspect of war. Paul had just stabbed a printer. He talks about how “he gazes at me with a look of utter terror.”(218) He has just stabbed a man called his enemy, but when he realizes he is a man, Paul feels as he had done something wrong. This man who Paul had killed now seems so innocent. Paul had taken the life of a fellow man, someone who had a wife, a job as a printer, a famil. Paul states after the man is dead “Comrade, I did not want to kill you. If you jumped in her again, I would not do it, if you would be sensible too. But you were only an idea to me before, an abstration that lived in my mind and called forth its appropriate response. It was that abstraction I stabbed. But now, for the first time, I see you are a man like me. I thought of your hand-grenates, of your bayonet, of your rifle; now I see your wife and your face and our

When it came to his economic standing when compared to everyone else it seemed as though that he felt bad about his situation. A prime example that I found was the part in the story where Paul was standing out in the cold rain even though he had a warm house he could go to. To add to the self pity Paul sneaked into his

When Tatsi told Paul that he was a good person, she meant it as a good person in general. Paul is a good Hutu, for the fact that he doesn’t see anything wrong with Tutsis and he doesn’t want to kill them. Paul wants to save Tutsi and stop the Hutus for killing them for no good reason. Paul risked his life to help countless Tutsis he lied to people that could kill him for people he didn’t know. To be a good person or morally good person it to help others and not want help back. To be a good person is to have good intentions in everything you do, don’t do something to make yourself feel or look better. That is what Paul was doing, at the beginning he didn’t want to get involved and bring attention to him self, but he would eventually come around

As always, the context of this discourse determines why Paul wrote about the “man of lawlessness.” The Thessalonian brethren were deceived into believing that the Day of the Lord had already come and they did not notice it. Spirits, words, and forged letters were being used to support the false notion that this was the case (2 Thess. 2:2). As a result, Paul wrote this section to prove that the Day of the Lord was still in the future because certain events had not yet occurred (2 Thess.

Paul’s rude, aggressive and irresponsible nature show how he is ugly. His rudeness towards the people who try to help him discourage further help from those people. His aggressiveness can and will prevent Paul. His stubborn nature tires the people who nonstop help him. Paul’s negative characteristics shape everyone's present and future who are involved with him. Small easy to fix character traits could ruin someone's life.