I struggled to keep my head above water as fierce waves battered against my fragile body. My lungs screamed in anguish as harsh cold water filtered into them, steadily consuming the space that had moments ago been occupied by oxygen. As I felt my strength waning, I wondered if fighting was even worth it. After all, it would be just as easy to let the waves overtake me and be gone forever. Oftentimes, uncertainty can strike people when it is least expected. It may be in moderation, or come crashing down all at once, it all depends on the severity of the situation that is being faced. However, uncertainty during times of adversity comes with two very important choices. One can either embrace their uncertainty and face it head on, or they can …show more content…
Willa Cather’s short story Paul’s Case: A Study in Temperament, is a specific account of a teenage boy who struggles with depression. In this work, the topic of an uncertain future is developed by Paul’s struggle to face his reality, by his lack of a maternal figure and disdain towards his father, and by his ultimate decision to commit suicide. In many situations, people are too afraid to handle the circumstances that they are faced with so they avoid them entirely with the hope that they will eventually resolve themselves. However, oftentimes this is not a solid solution and only leads to further trouble down the road. For example, within the story, Paul’s Case, Paul, the protagonist is extremely unhappy with the life that he is living. He is a middle-class citizen who lives with his father and sisters in a posh Pittsburgh community, but for him, that isn’t enough as he longs to live a life of luxury. And …show more content…
However, this outlook can very easily change course, especially after suffering the loss of a loved one. With regard to Paul’s life, his mother died shortly after his birth, so the only immediate family members within his life are his Dad and his sisters. Although it is not mentioned extensively throughout the story, the main factor of Paul’s depression is the lack of a maternal figure in his life. During one particular occasion when Paul’s teachers are voicing their concerns about his behavior to the principal, his drawing master implies that Paul’s happiness is fake. He describes his smile as haunted and states, “He was born in Colorado only a few months before his mother died out there of a long illness. There is something wrong with the fellow.” This coupled with his strong sense of disconnect from his father are factors contributing to Paul’s unhappiness. He and his father have a strained relationship, as they have a different perspective on what Paul should be aspiring for in life. His father truly means well and wants to help his son, but his harsh way of constantly comparing Paul to people he feels he should model just drives Paul into a further state of despair. For example, one Sunday afternoon while Paul and his family are relaxing, his father talks to a young clerk who works at a steel corporation. He was
Paul’s character relates to the central idea because he is an example of a person who was not accepted by others and fell down on a dark path of no
“The sea's only gifts are harsh blows, and occasionally the chance to feel strong. Now I don't know much about the sea, but I do know that that's the way it is here. And I also know how important it is in life not necessarily to be strong but to feel strong. To measure yourself at least once. To find yourself at least once in the most ancient of human conditions. Facing the blind deaf stone alone, with nothing to help you but your hands and your own head.” – Christopher McCandless, Into the Wild
family and force's Paul to leave the town and create a new image for himself.
Every encounter Paul has with someone he creates a new identity to bond and connect with them. Throughout the play Paul creates multiple personas for himself, he realizes that he is an empty vessel with no past and only memories of what he has done during his different personas. Paul loses control over his multiple personas which cause them to overlap with each other. Which causes him to feel lost and in search of help, when Ousia offers this help he gladly takes it which end up putting him in prison and never to be seen in New York.
Paul has very little interest in his class studies. This leaves him open to distraction and eventually criticism. Although Paul’s appearance is that of a perfect gentleman, his teachers find his behavior inappropriate and unacceptable. The narrator draws particular attention to Paul’s eyes describing them as “remarkable for a certain hysterical brilliancy”(Cather 245); this is followed by the response of his teachers who find it “peculiarly offensive in a boy”(Cather 245). Paul’s meeting with the schools principal continues as each of his teachers get an opportunity to voice their disgust with Paul. The whole time Paul stands there never losing his smile. This is dubbed “irritating to the last degree” (Cather 246). For Paul this is his sign of strength. He refuses to allow his teachers, of such simple minds, to tear at his soul. They have no understanding of Paul’s behavior and do not wish to learn. After the meeting his teachers felt remorse for their onslaught against this mere boy. One remarked on the similarity to a “miserable street cat set at bay by a r...
In conclusion, the point of view in paul’s case provides a sort of feeling to this story that could not be shown. If the point of view where any different, the readers would not understand why paul killed himself or why he enjoyed frustrating his teachers and making people nervous. Or why he was so kind and let go at the theater. Who would not know the reason he stayed awake all night in the basement rather than just go to his room and confront his father.
Paul's childhood in fifth business was not picture perfect. For instance, as Dunstan stated in the story is that "Paul was not a village favorite, and the dislike so many people felt for his mother - dislike for the queer and persistently unfortunate - they attached to the offending son." (34) This illustrates the struggle that Paul had dealt with at a young age. His father Amasa Dempster blamed Paul for his mother, Mary simple-mindedness; he constantly told him that it was his birth that brought misfortune upon the family. Furthermore, the people of the town also did not make it easier on him because of his mother's wrong actions; they put a great distance, and making him become the town's outcast. After all, the guilt, Paul felt for his mother pushed him to change his life for the better; More importantly, by running away with the circus he strived to become a famous magician.
Pauls past relationship with his dad has been rough because of his dad leaving shawn. Paul feels as though his dad left the family so he didn't have to worry about shawn and their family problems. During the time his dad was gone paul has been angry that shawn hasn't been getting the fatherly support he needs to feel normal. “My dad couldn't stay with us and help us take care of my brother--no, he left me to handle all that so he could jet around and make a bunch of money whining about his tragic plight”(4). Paul realizes that if his dad really cared about their family situation he wouldn't have left the family in the position he was in.
Everyone’s lives are affected by the decisions they have made and past experiences they have had. In the novel A River Runs Through It, author Norman Maclean uses the theme of experiences to portray the difficulties a person can face throughout life. Although Norman and Paul are brothers and bond through fly fishing, they are two different people who have different life paths. Norman chose to get a stable job and live a domestic life, whereas Paul chose to become a bachelor and a lower class reporter. The main character is Norman himself, and he also experiences the difficulties his troubled brother Paul is faced with. Unlike his brother, Paul has chosen a different route in life, and he has an addiction problem. As a result of Paul’s alcoholism, his life is destroyed by financial issues, family disconnects and gambling.
Paul’s Case is a peculiar story of socio-economic struggle and refusal to accept the conditions in which one is born to by Willa Cather. In Cather’s story we get to know our character, Paul, Paul is a very witty and sarcastic person who is disliked by his teachers and he dislikes his life as he feels the need for fine things. He ends up stealing money from the place he works at. He finally gets to experience the luxury he so desires but upon hearing his father is coming to get him hastily throws himself in front of a train, but upon flying through the air realizes how hastily he had reacted and thinks of all the things he’ll never get to see. The point of the story that Cather is trying to prove is that there is no easy way to success, and if one does try to it has consequences.
Paul’s mother was incapable of love; “when her children were present, she always felt the centre of her heart go hard.” Paul’s mother desires materialistic possessions and excludes priceless items such as love. Paul’s mother and father were incapable of maintaining the social position they had to uphold with the amount of money they made. The house was always high strung and believed that there was always a need for more money. The house became haunted by the unspoken phrase, “There must be more money!”
Paul suffered setbacks and dilemmas because he never knew his mother as she died around the time of his birth. Therefore he is lacking the maternal guidance of emotional stability that every child needs to grow mentally. Paul is withdrawn from society, and he resorts to the arts and music to feel comfortable and free from his disassociation and sense of loneliness. One should not be confused and believe that his father was not loving or caring of Paul because his father did what he could to support Paul and to do all he could to get Paul out of problem situations. He just was not very keen on Paul's needs, especially his manners or clothing. The narrator described Paul's clothes as being "a trifle outgrown, and the tan velvet on the collar of his open overcoat was frayed and worn" (67). Men are not the gender who is as observant and uptight about people's attires. Men tend to desire less than women do, and this was inflicted upon Paul since it was his father who was overseeing Paul's limits on material well-being. It takes more of a female's point of view to judge if something looks perfect, and Paul and his father did not have this type of direction around. A master of Paul's noticed "what a white, blue-veined face it was; drawn and wrinkled like an old man's around the eyes, and stiff with nervous tension . . ." (69). The wrinkles apparently came from the stresses that ruled Paul. HE was constantly dealing with the pain of no mother and his nervous tension was that he knew how he did not fit in with all the other boys his age. He lacked the maternal stability and reassurance that most children had in order to be string mentally and emotionally. This stood out when he was aro...
In fact, the daily life of human beings is at the mercy of the uncontrollable waves of the sea; while, at the same time, the essential part of reality remains unknown to feeble, helpless humans. The human voyage into life is feeble, vulnerable, and uncontrollable. Since the crew on a dangerous sea without hope are depicted as "the babes of the sea", it can be inferred that we are likely to be ignorant strangers in the universe. In addition to the dangers we face, we also have to overcome the new challenges of the waves in the daily life. These waves are "most wrongfully and barbarously abrupt and tall", requiring "a new leap, and a leap."
He even states, “After those six months, after that year, we would be able to go on living as a happy family. A scar would remain somewhere, true enough, but a scar does not have to get in the way of happiness,” which is consequently untrue (149-150). The way that Paul and Claire have raised Michel is a scar that their son will have to deal with the rest of their life. The home that Paul grew up in has scarred him, and it is ridiculously obvious that it still affects him
That fact is made apparent every time Paul’s eyes are described as, “uncanny, strange, wide, or glassy,”. The entire story is built on the idea that the boy is not completely sound of mind. It is that that leads me to believe that the boys death lays on his own shoulders. He continuously was entranced by the idea of luck and money, and it destroyed him. His mind was ruined by his constant thoughts of such things, and ended up causing his