Willa Cather’s short story “Paul’s Case” tells the story of a young boy, Paul, drifting through life without a sole purpose. “A Worn Path” by Eudora Welty illustrates the journey of an older, African American woman, Phoenix Jackson, seeking to find help for her grandson. Although these short stories depict the life journey that each character takes and the struggles each encounter, their stories are much different. Their personalities, determination, and ability to persevere vary immensely between the two stories. Paul and Phoenix Jackson differed greatly in all aspects of life. Paul and Phoenix’s personalities contrast in various ways between the two short stories. Paul is very controversial with everyone around him. His father, teachers, and employers see him as a bad case and detest his nonchalant spirit. His teachers feel “his whole attitude was symbolized by his shrug and his flippantly red carnation flower” (Cather, 243). Many are bothered by his insensible vibe. In opposition to Paul, Phoenix has a way with people. She uses what she has to …show more content…
Phoenix is never thrown off her game when she is presented with obstacles; she is not easily shaken or made to be afraid. Even when the man points the gun straight at Phoenix, she is not disturbed stating, “I seen plenty go off closer by, in my day, for less than what I done” (Welty, 225). She has lived through so much that nothing bothers her at this point. In opposition to Phoenix, any time Paul feels he will face opposition, he goes out of his way to avoid it. Paul cannot even face up to his father after coming home late, nonetheless after his escape to New York. Paul does not have the determination to persevere. As soon as Paul finds himself in a predicament he goes to the extreme and takes his own life. Phoenix even perseveres chronologically. She lives to see old age, outliving nearly everyone around her; Paul will not even make it to his college
When Paul's father took him out of school and demanded he not work or see anyone at the Theatre, I believe it was at this point of the story that he took away apart of Paul's life, his fantasy life. He took away Paul's meaning of life and put him back into the reality, the world Paul did not like because for him it was the instruments, the music and the lights, as well as, his job responsibilities which made him feel like someone special.
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.
The author develops this story in a way which creates a sense of loneliness for the reader. He shows this through Ellen's feelings, she wants Paul to come back, to feel
It’s December when Phoenix starts on her journey to Natchez and it is a journey she has taken many times before. This journey is no journey an elderly and weaken person should have to make by themselves, yet Phoenix does. She does not allow her age or her condition to keep her from it. Deep through the pines, the path takes her, and her first task would be to make it over a hill that seems to take all her energy and strength. “Seems like there is chains around my feet, time I get this far…” (Welty 5), here the reader can tell Phoenix does not have the strength that she really needs to make it up the hill. Yet somewhere she finds the will to keep pushing on and moving forward. This same type of spirit that allows Phoenix to keep pushing forward in society, and not to back down. Showing the younger generation that you have to fight your way through to a brighter day. It is later down the path that Phoenix comes to a creek and the only way to get across, is by walking on a log. Phoenix walks across this log with her eyes close. Once across she opens her eyes and says, “I wasn’t as old as I ...
Also, even though at times it may seem like Annie is caring towards Paul, in reality she is just making him healthier so he can endure her misery for longer. After Annie finds Paul in his car by himself on the middle of the road, she takes him home and gives him first aid, and Annie does this she seems like she is a kindhearted person but in the end she chops Paul’s foot off, because Paul lied to Annie about how many times he left the room. Clearly, only heartless Annie could chop Paul’s foot off for something as simple as lying. Annie also punches Paul’s already twisted and broken legs because she was emotionally hurt when Paul criticized the paper, this isolated Paul in a situation that was worse than what he started with. Although Annie has many different personality traits that are a part of her murderous nature, her heartlessness is what terrorizes Paul throughout the entirety of his confinement. Annie’s heartlessness terrifies Paul without extent because he knows Annie doesn’t think twice before doing something
“A Worn Path” is a short story written by Eudora Welty. It is based on an elderly African-American grandmother named Phoenix Jackson, who goes for a walk to the town of Natchez on a cold December morning to get some medicine for her ailing grandson. This story speaks of the obstacles Phoenix endured along the way and how she overcame them. The theme, central idea or message that the author wishes to convey to his or her readers, in “A Worn Path” is one of determination. Phoenix Jackson is determined to get to Natchez, in order to get medicine for her grandson; she does not let any obstacles get in her way. The theme of determination is shown in many ways throughout this short story.
Although I feel as though there are many literary elements throughout this short story such as characterization and theme, I also feel as though symbolism is very important as well. First of all, I believe that the name Phoenix in itself is symbolic for the type of person the old woman truly is. A Phoenix is a mythological creature who dies in fire and rises from ashes only to be stronger. It is as though all of these hardships only make the old woman more determined to complete her journey successfully.
Paul is so obsessed with money that he believes money will solve all of his problems. The thought of the shame associated with those who have little or no money compared to the life of the rich persists in the mind of Paul. Paul enthusiastically analyzes his own vaguely poor existence and hates every detail of women’s graceless conversations as well as confined houses, filthy bathrooms, and men’s respectful manner toward their bosses. Due to Paul’s misunderstanding regarding work and money, it is evident that Paul will probably never become as successful as his idols. While listening to a discussion between Paul’s father and a young clerk Paul becomes fascinated by the talk of the “iron kings;” however, “he was interested in the triumphs of these cash boys who had become famous, though he had no mind for the cash-boy stage” (par. 25). Paul craves the results of hard work but refuses the manual labor that precedes the riches. Paul believes that he is the only one that understands the best way of building wealth. Those around him, more importantly his neighbors, obsess and pride themselves with their conservativeness and even pass down their money-saving techniques to their children. Paul believes that their money-saving techniques are outrageous and ridicules their poor man mentality; however, Paul does not realize that one must save money in order to move up in the social hierarchy. Paul is certain that he was to be born rich; it comes as no surprise when he steals one-thousand dollars in cash from Denny & Carson’s, where Paul works. In a strange way, Paul feels he deserves the money without working for it. Paul’s obsession with wealth along with his misunderstanding of money drives Paul to commit a felony.
Paul- A psychopath. The dialogue and interactions that Paul and James share paint a picture that Paul was forced out of his family because of his love for “magic”. We assume this to be true (stereotypes of religious folks), until James becomes a person-of-interest in a murder of a girl, under the identity of Paul.
Eudora Welty’s “A Worn Path,” is based on a time period of racism and white supremacy. Welty was inspired to write this story when she saw an old African American woman crossing a landscape with a purpose and wanted to write about the possible motive for the trip. Phoenix Jackson is an old African- American woman who endures many struggles along a journey to obtain medicine for her ill grandson. Although, the odds were against Phoenix throughout the story and she was constantly tempted to just go back home, she was determined to complete the journey. In “A Worn Path,” Eudora Welty uses the characterization and symbolism of Phoenix to illustrate her overcoming of many struggles in order to fulfill her obligation
Throughout this book, Paul’s voice sounds more colloquial and chatty, where the tone is quite informal. This is shown with the use of a conversational and story-telling style of writing. First person pronouns are exceedingly common as part of his writing. By writing “When Breath Becomes Air” as a memoir, Paul allows the audience to see deep into his philosophies behind death and life. With a first-person narrative, it allows the reader to feel if they were in the same boat as Paul, carefully listening to his voice and opinion, which creates a strong connection between the reader and the
In "Paul's Case," Willa Cather manages to apply the emotions, feelings, troubles, and thoughts of modern society, allowing the reader to relate to the story. By incorporating the same heavy burdens that bother and aggravate people in their daily lives, Willa explores the pain and treatment unwanted people experience. Obviously, nobody wants to feel rejection or alienation from the world, but instead they desire to encounter acceptance and agreement with the world's standards. In the story, the main character, Paul goes through excruciating transformations and lengths to try and impress the people around him. Attempting to belong in a superficial society, Paul loses a part of his identity without acknowledging it and therefore he strays from his own personality. Blinding himself from reality, Paul succumbs to the materialistic requirements of society, which contributes largely to his peculiar behavior.
There have always been and will always be conflicts between social classes, and this story is no different. People always want more than they have and they envy the people who have it. Paul is a troubled boy from Pittsburgh who embodies this idea. His teachers think he is a delinquent, and his classmates do not interact with him, but Paul does not really seem to care. These people and their opinions matter very little to him. He feels he was born for something more than these stupid people and their opinions. He hates his life at home on Cordelia Street and at school, with his only place of refuge being at his job at the theater. His attitude at work is completely opposite to his normal life, "very much as though this were a great reception and Paul were the host"(Cather 314). Working as an usher at the symphony surrounds him with the beauty of the upper class that he belongs in. He feels that he belongs with these people so strongly that he steals money from his job at the "firm of Denny and Carson." When given the weekly payroll to deposit, Paul steals it and takes off fo...
In this scene Paul has just entered the hotel after stealing the money and running away to New York. There is a long shot of the inside of the hotel and Paul has just walked through the door and is walking closer to the camera.
Phoenix's precarious journey may seem dangerous, but her determination is what carries her through the obstacles she faces as she makes her way through the woods. Phoenix makes her way across the worn path and discovers many active opponents. She continues forward over barriers that would not even be considered a hindrance for the young. The long hill that she takes tires her, the thornbrush attempts to catch her clothes, the log that Phoenix goes across endangers her balance as she walks across it, and the barbed-wire fence threatens to puncture her skin. All of these impediments that Phoenix endures apparently do not affect her because she is determined that nothing will stop her on her journey. She keeps proceeding onward letting nothing deter her determination. ?The hunter(tm)s attempt to instill fear in Phoenix, a fear she disposed of years ago as she came to terms with her plight in society, fail (Sykes 151). She ?realizes that the importance of the trip far exceeds the possible harm that can be done to her brittle ...