Accidents occurs every time in the most unpredictable time and place. Paul Rayment was a victim of an unfortunate event that completely change his life physically, emotionally, and psychologically. His accident cost his leg. As an avid biker and biking as his primary source of transportation, Paul’s leg was a major part of his life and being amputated meant a lot of complication for the rest of his life. The story looks into the life of Paul and his struggles in his new, modified life as an old amputee, who prefer life in solitude. Looking deeper in the meaning of his seemingly stubborn attitude towards his amputation, Paul showed a great psychological shift on how to live the rest of his life and start to accept rather new concepts that he …show more content…
However, his realization of the injury was further pushed to him when his doctor offered him prosthesis. At face value, prosthesis gives hope to amputees, enabling them to return to their normal lives with the minimum technicalities, however Paul sees prosthesis on a different matter. “Let me say it again : I don’t want a prosthesis.’ Dr Hansen and Nurse Elaine exchange glances. ‘if you don’t want a prosthesis, what would you prefer?’ ‘I would prefer to take care of myself.” (10) Not only he refused the prosthesis, Paul completely ignore the line of questioning about his disability. The refusal of the prosthesis made his to make a choice, giving his the mentality that he is still in control of his life. Mad on his lack of option on his amputation, the ability to pick the prosthesis is a small, yet crucial decision that he could make for his own life. Additionally, the use of prosthesis symbolize that he surrenders and accept that he is a feeble old man who cannot make choices for himself. When Paul said that he wants to take care of himself, he was emphasizing that this tragedy that happened to him was not as life altering as the doctor thinks. Paul’s long lived years as a single , independent man affected his thoughts and how to process his current …show more content…
The first sign of his return to humanity was him liking a girl in a sexual manner. “Not quite young enough for the role of princess, perhaps, but attractive nonetheless; soft-fleshed.........She is the first woman to provoke his sexual interest since the accident” (36) Even though his essence of his former self was slowly dwindling down because of the accident, Paul was able to observe the beauty of his surroundings and having the same instincts as a normal mature man. This small stimuli helps Paul to stay intact with reality and able to survive his melancholic lifestyle. However, the arrival of Marijana ignited his life and gave him a greater reason for his life. Marijana is an educated and culturally apt caregiver that is blessed with a healthy family, that Paul longs for. He was offering Marijana to be a sponsor for his son to have a better education, which was an indirect approach towards her affection. “Yes. He wants Drago to have a good education..... He wants Ljuba and her older sister to grow up happy too, and have their own hearts’ desire. Over the whole brood he wants to extend the shield of his benevolent protection. And he wants to love this excellent woman, their mother. That above all. For which he will pay.” (p77)Paul’s intentions were pure, to help Marijana and her family to gain access for the better of their future. However, his love towards Marijana is stronger than his
In her essay “On Being a Cripple,” Mairs describes her path of acceptance of her multiple sclerosis (MS) diagnosis by declaring that she is a “cripple” in alternative to the more broadly acceptable terms: disabled or handicapped. Her essay is written with humor, satire, an open heart, and open eyes. Mair’s purpose is to describe her acceptances of her condition by using rhetorical elements and appeals, such as ethos and pathos, in order to allure her audience.
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.
...nearly always wore the guise of ugliness, that a certain element of artificiality seemed to him necessary in beauty”(Pg. 7). With this in mind, Paul’s actions seem deliberate, as if he knew what he was doing all along, again supporting the theory that he was simply wallowing in misery, crying for help.
Paul believes that everyone around him is beneath him. He is convinced that he is superior to everyone else in his school and in his neighborhood. He is even condescending to his teachers, and shows an appalling amount of contempt for them, of which they are very aware.
As previously stated, in the beginning of the book, Paul was super quiet, shy, and lonely. In fact, his only friend was his mom. Paul never tried to change anything, and never made his voice heard. He had terrible self esteem - mainly because he felt it was his fault he was blind, and had to
Nearby resident Stephen Sweetman provides examples of making and remaking on City Road, in relation to connections and disconnections between people. Disconnected with disabled people, until a severe disablement of his own, Stephen soon became further disconnected, this time with people from the outside world. Family members connected with Stephen by introducing him to the use of a wheelchair. This action enabled Stephen to connect with fellow wheelchair users yet, after experiencing ‘discrimination’ (Havard, 2014, p.77) held against disabled people; he remained disconnected with the rest of society. While acknowledging how far society has travelled, along the road to securing acceptable disabled rights, Stephen stated,
In the book, The Short Bus, Jonathan Mooney’s thesis is that there is more to people than their disabilities, it is not restricting nor is it shameful but infact it is beautiful in its own way. With a plan to travel the United States, Mooney decides to travel in a Short bus with intentions of collecting experiences from people who have overcome--or not overcome--being labeled disabled or abnormal. In this Mooney reinvents this concept that normal people suck; that a simple small message of “you’re not normal” could have a destructive and deteriorating effect. With an idea of what disabilities are, Mooney’s trip gives light to disabilities even he was not prepared to face, that he feared.
From the outset of the story, the reader is shown Paul's thoughts. Through this the story tells us that Paul has a very active imagination. This is shown when Pauls says, "Then,
Pauls's Case is the story of a young man who struggles with his identity. Paul feels that he knows where he belongs, but his family and teachers refuse to support his choices. In the middle of Paul's Case, there is a switch in narration. At this point, the reader can associate with Paul and his problems. Paul struggles with both internal and external conflicts, causing him to be quite a puzzling character. From tha perspective of his family and teachers, Paul seems abnormal. From his perspective, however, he seems misunderstood.
Due to these insecurities, the men commit actions that make the female characters the victims. Miriam is in love with Paul and committed to him, despite this, she ends up heartbroken. “He felt, in leaving her, he was defrauding her of life. But he knew that, in staying, stifling the inner, desperate man, he was denying his own life. And he did not hope to give life to her by denying his own.” (Lawrence, 136). Paul has to decide between his happiness and Miriam’s. In the end, Paul chooses to ruin her life rather than his own. This decision is driven by his need to feel masculine as he thinks that Miriam is depriving him of this. Feeling emasculated is his insecurity and because Paul feels insecure he thinks that hurting Miriam is justified.
The first indication the relationship between Paul and his mother is not one that is ideal is when we are first introduced to the mother. She reveals she feels her children, "had been thrust upon her, and she could not love them," whenever her children were present, "she always felt
believes that if Paul was to need her, if she could take care of him, "if
OUCH! My leg crippled with pain. I tried to shuffle my way to the window, but it was excruciating. As my senses kicked back in, I felt pains shooting up and down my body. Peering down at my hands I screamed. My hands were covered in cold, congealed blood.
Early on the man ignores his injury, he tries to keep busy by reading and just trying not to think about it. “He never let the realization get to him; he let himself realize it physically, but he never quite let it get to him”(Gordimer 396). Though he tries to forget his loss he is constantly reminded of it. “his attention was arrested sometimes, quite suddenly and compellingly by the sunken place under the rug where his leg used to be”( 396).
Paul's relationship with Clara is based on passion. Her womanliness impresses him from the first time that they meet and throughout their relationship. Since Paul has never had any sexual experiences Clara amazes him thoroughly because she is so sensual, unlike Miriam who is afraid of any physical contact and his mother who is not in a position to offer him such things. During their relationship, Paul matures from a boy into a man not only physically but also mentally. Sadly, due to their age difference and their different perceptions of life, their relationship falls apart. Another great reason for the failure of their relationship is the fact that Clara is married.