It is a widely known idea that times change and people change. After major world events, there are often changes in the world's popular culture. After the Great War, writers began a new style of literature that came to be known as modernism. Modernism deals with conflicts between social classes, eclecticism for the past and the finer things in life, and the further advancement of society. All of these aspects of modernism are present in the short story "Paul's Case," by Willa Cather, and they all affect the evolution of the plot. These things drive the main character, Paul crazy and lead him to do a lot of wildly extravagant things in this story.
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...
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Paul's struggle with his past and with social classes is ultimately the cause of his misery and death. Throughout his life at home, he hates living in a lower class than he belongs in. He feels that he is completely held back by the place he lives and the people that surround him, so he runs away. When he finally gets away, everything is fine. However, when he realizes that sooner or later, he will have to return to Pittsburgh, he decides that his past was so unpleasant for him that he would rather just end it all by committing suicide. It is definitely true that these modernist ideals played a very significant role in the development of this short story, and in the ultimate downfall or Paul.
WORKS CITED
Cather, Willa. "Paul's Case." American Short Stories. Ed. Eugene Current-Garcia and Bert Hitchcock. London, England: Scott, Foresman, 1990. 310-327
In his first year of school, he is only interested in Megan Murray, the first girl Paul has ever lusted for. However in his second year, he meets Rosie. Rosie watches him practise in the Music Room during lunch. Initially, Paul feels intimidated by Rosie as he thinks that she is too much like himself. He is afraid that he now has competition as she is the other smart kid in the class, yet he still chooses to teach her some piano. Choosing to spring lines from Herr Keller’s teachings, he makes himself sound smarter and more accomplished at the piano than he actually is. The characters show the development of Paul through the way they act with Paul and the language and content used in conversation. This enables us to see Paul’s “plumage” being presented to the world as Paul develops through time to become the swan that he is at the end of the novel.
In regard to race, he says the he was “BORN IN SWITZERLAND__NEVER EXPERIENCED RACE” (PG). However, since Paul is not really the son of Sydney Poitier, who he claims to be his father, this imagination shows how he is trying to deny being black. However, at the end of the book, he finally admits a part of himself when he asks Louisa to bring him to jail, saying “if they don’t know you’re special, they kill you” (58). When Louisa tries to reassure Paul that this isn’t the case, Paul goes against all of his previous attempts to deny that he’s black, and says the elephant in the room: “Ms. Louisa Kittredge, I am black (58). Similarly, He aspires to be like the Kittredges, even going to museums, shown in his dream of living with them, being their son, and following in Flan’s footsteps. Expressing his own values by emphasis on imagination. Paul is the perfect example of creating an image for himself. He plays the extreme of what the Upper East Siders are doing in their everyday lives. He takes other peoples experiences, like the upper class does with their anecdotes, and uses them to make him come off as someone he’s not. He dresses up his appearance and does not understand or accept who he is on the inside.
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...
Paul in “Paul’s Case” wanted to get away from the reality and the hostile environment he faced. He was sick of Pittsburgh and the middle-class, Cordelia Street, which he lived on. Although his mother past away, his home life was as normal as could be. This is something Paul hated, normality. At school he would tell other students false stories to try to make his life seem more interesting than theirs. This ultimately caused none of the other students like him, even the teachers lash out at him. Paul was suspended from school, but he didn’t mind. He found an interest in music and in art, although he knew his father would not approve. Paul’s father wanted him to be a business man, have a normal family and have an ordinary life. Although, having a normal, ordinary life was not what Paul had in mind for his future. He dreamt of much more which caused him to believe he would never get his father’s approval.
In All Quiet on the Western Front, Paul is morphed from an innocent child into a war veteran who has a new look on society. Paul used to have a carefree life where he was able to be a kid, but when he enlisted into the army it all changed. Paul became a person whose beliefs were changed because of the war. Paul doesn't believe in society anymore especially parents, elders, and school, which used to play a big part in his life. He changed his beliefs because society does not really understand how bad war really is and pushed many young men, who were not ready, into the army. Paul connects with his fellow soldiers because they are going through the same situation and feel the same emotions. Paul's beliefs were changed by the lies that were told to him.
As a child Paul and Norman were very much the same, for they both seeked love from their father but, growing up Paul strayed from his fathers teaching. We see that in fly fishing; Paul leaves the four tempo technique, and creates a technique called shadow casting. Paul seeks attention, for example when he danced with the Native American girl all eyes were on them due to the provocative dancing or Native American. Paul loves being in the center of attention whenever; he came home he would often tell stories with both parents giving him full attention. Paul’s character was very boisterous and quick-tempered. Paul tended to start fights and cause a scene. Paul is not reserved, and he will quickly tell you how he feels. Paul is a very independent person, and he does not like to receive help; for example after the gambling scene Paul tries to dissuade Norman away from helping him. Paul is not one to follow other people’s example, but rather sets examples like fly fishing. Paul has an alcohol and gambling problem, and he knows, but he refuses help due to his pride. Paul was equally loved as a child, but he craved for attention as an adult because he did not know what to do with the love that was given to him. In the movie Paul started to really act out when Norman came home, and perhaps this was because he felt as if he was in Norman’s shadow. Norman was called the “professor” in the family because he went to college, but Paul never left Montana, and he could never achieve what Norman achieved perhaps that is why he acted so immaturely to receive
Cather, Willa. “Paul’s Case.” The Norton Anthology of Short Fiction. Eds. R.V. Cassill and Richard Bausch. Shorter 6th ed. New York: Norton, 2000. 198-207.
The teachers at the school do not understand Paul's behavior. They feel Paul is disrespectful and a nuisance, and they have given up on him. Unlike the teachers, the people at Carnegie Hall have not given up on Paul and see a future for him in the theater industry.
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 surrounds himself with the aesthetics of music and the rich and wealthy, as a means to escape his true reality. 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 life. This disinterest in school reflects Paul’s alienation because of the unusual attention he receives there that he doesn’t get at home. In class one day he was at the chalkboard and “his English teacher had stepped to his side and attempted to guide his hand” (Cather 1).
In the beginning of the story, Paul seems to be a typical teenage boy: in trouble for causing problems in the classroom. As the story progresses, the reader can infer that Paul is rather withdrawn. He would rather live in his fantasy world than face reality. Paul dreaded returning home after the Carnegie Hall performances. He loathed his "ugly sleeping chamber with the yellow walls," but most of all, he feared his father. This is the first sign that he has a troubled homelife. Next, the reader learns that Paul has no mother, and that his father holds a neighbor boy up to Paul as "a model" . The lack of affection that Paul received at home caused him to look elsewhere for the attention that he craved.
The modernist style of writing is one of disillusionment, frustration and loss of hope. The modernist writers did not try to point out silver linings or brighter futures, instead they explored the depths of the sorrows of life in the time of the great depression and the long road to recovery from it. Most of these writers blamed the modernization of America for the stock market crash that brought on the great depression. Likewise, modern politics drew America into not only one, but two world wars. At the same time, modern intellectual advancements challenged or usurped traditional beliefs and values.
"Paul’s Case." Short Stories for Students. Ed. Kathleen Wilson. Vol. 2. Detroit: Gale, 1997. 192-209. Short Stories for Students. Gale. Web. 21 Jan. 2010.
In the modernism there was no focus on the plot events, instead the writers focused on characters' consciousness. Ambiguity and complexity were valued at that time. Modernists often work towards open endings and used the narrative gaps. In the early modernism the technique of Stream of Consciousness was widely used to know more about the human sense. Modernism was influenced by naturalism and realism. Its social content is characteristically avant-grade (Drabble 682). Moreover, the 20th century is one of the most important periods in English drama. New ideas, terms and styles have been introduced as a result of the atmosphere. Writers on that time expressed their anger and scorn as a result of the wars and the revolutions. There were many social changes at that time and the playwrights started to tackle that in their plays (Innes
According to D.H. Lawrence: a study of the short fiction Paul’s last words ““Mother did I ever tell you? I am lucky!” Are really a desperate, confused proclamation of his love” (4)? This demonstrates that even after all his mother has done he still loves her and cares about her. He sees more in his mother than her materialism, he knows that she still loves her family, even if she cannot control her need for more money. Unlike his mother Paul shows that he does not care about money by saying “oh, let her have it, then! We can get some more with the other,” (Lawrence 800). This proves how different both characters are and how not all people are materialistic even if they come from the same family. He is willing to give his mother all the money he has earned just to make her happy. This proves how important his mom is to him and how money is not important to him because he is willing to give up all the money he