Paul’s Case
Paul's Case is about a young, Calvinist man who did not feel that he belonged in his life. He lived on Cordelia Street in Pittsburgh, PA. Cordelia Street was littered with cookie cutter houses, suburbanite-like city-dwellers, and a general aura of despair. Paul's room was no different. Paul felt that his abusive father, uncaring teachers, and classmates who misunderstand him aren't worthy of his presence and company. One of the reasons Paul may not have fit in was because there is a chance that he was learning disabled.
Paul worked at Carnegie Hall as an usher. It is here that Paul's real love lies. Paul lost himself in the music of the symphonies, the characters of the plays, and in the artful scenery. Paul also enjoyed gallery art, as evidenced by the hours he spends in an art gallery, staring at one painting, before his shift at Carnegie one night. He became lost in seemingly all forms of creative expression, whether it is a floral arrangement in a shop window or an orchestral swell at the beginning of a symphony. It is at Carnegie Hall that Paul became struck by the glitter and the starlight of the stage. He was not star struck in the sense that he wanted to perform in any way, he was simply content to observe others' performances. He is struck in the sense that he wants to live the way the characters in the plays do. He imagines them living to all the extent of their money, glutting on beautiful music, art, and life.
Paul, unfortunate for him, was,...
Paul entered the faculty room, suave and smiling. His clothes were a trifle outgrown, and the tan velvet on the collar of his open overcoat was frayed and worn; but, for all that, there was something of the dandy about him, and he wore an opal pin
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.
Paul's dream to live like the stars is taken away when his father forbids him to work, visit, or go anywhere near the theater. It is at Carnegie Hall that Paul became struck by the glitter and the starlight of the stage. He is not star struck in the sense that he wanted to perform in any way; he is simply content to observe others' performances.
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.
Paul’s is their insider knowledge of the workings of the school. Students with seniority possess the best/most information available on subjects such as who are the best teachers, which characteristics are prescribed to each dorm, what boys (and girls) to stay away from, and how to behave in given environments. Students who come into the school with a preconceived notion of the workings of the school are shunned and rejected. New students do not possess the experience required to make assumptions and proclamations of the inner workings of the school and its residents. For example, Evan Williams, a ninth grader discussed in the book was chastised and cursed at for acting as though he knew about the school’s inner workings when he had no prior experience at/of the school except for what he learned from his family
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). Paul, at the moment of being touched, stepped backwards suddenly and put his hands behind his back. In other classes he looks out the window during lectures and pays little attention to his teacher’s lessons. Paul, growing up without a mother figure in his life, is unaccustomed to any affection or care from his teachers that mothers tend to give. Therefore, his alienation is portrayed in his attitude toward school, and the fore...
In "Paul's Case," the story revolves around a young male. He is the main character. There are very few mentions of women, however, when they do come into the story they are only mentioned briefly, or they play minor, secondary characters. Paul's mother and sisters are spoken about once during the entire story, while there are four references to his father. The females in his family are mentioned only in passing and remain flat characters, while his father is referred to several times, each time involving an action or comment which exhibits an aspect of his father's personality which makes him a more rounded character.
...is own intelligence. He is able to be observant even more so than the adults in his life. Paul’s eyesight is important through the book. His agency is limited by his glasses which he knows that it is. When Paul throws away his suit and has the fit he does, he realizes that he is becoming stronger. This would an example of deviating from the typical case prototype because he is able to learn these assumptions on his own. Throughout the book, Paul is able to solve problems on his own as well as having the courage to be straight forward with his dad and tell him that his eyesight was messed up by his brother. In the book, Paul has more emotions than adults think that he has. It bothers Paul that his father is all about the “Erik football dream” and that he is “like an idiot.” When Paul overcomes this stage he is able to grow on his own and become a stronger person.
"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.
Paul is the only white character, in the novel, that truly understands the struggle of being black in the south. We first met Paul in the Bayonne jail, when he is escorting Grant to Jefferson jail cell. After Grant continuously visits Jefferson, he and Paul became closer. In Ed Piacentino paper he notice grant and Paul were becoming more acquainted with each other. Piacentino saw the white community 's segregationist and their oppressive attitude, being an individual basis and not overall. He made an interesting comment about Paul in his paper “Paul 's eyes serve as a window to the essential goodness of his character” (Piacentino 5). By the end of the novel Paul see Jefferson as a human being when he notices the remarkable transformation that Jefferson went through. Paul knowing that Jefferson will be executed soon he treats him with kindness wanting to leave Jefferson with good memories of
In conclusion, the choices made by Paul's parents in the novel Tangerine, by Edward Bloor, affected Paul in several ways. The decisions they made included moving to Tangerine County, being neglectful towards Paul, and being dishonest when it comes to the truth of Paul’s blindness. Although some of their decisions influenced him severely, at the end, Paul became stronger and
You would think Andre Rand would have come to his senses after being sentenced to 25 years to life in prison. However, that was not the case. Rand cast himself as a “scapegoat victim” of a “corrupt” legal system, according to a series of letters he wrote and sent to a newspaper dating back to 1994.(Donnelly) In 1969, Andre Rand convicted his first act as a suspected serial killer, and convicted murderer. This must have set off a trigger in his mind that told him mentally to forever be a kidnapper, killer, and pedophile. Rand did not stop his ways after his 1969 act of crime.
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's Case," by Willa Cather, is a story that deals with a young boy who does not feel that he lives a life befitting of him. Upon a close reading, it is evident that "Paul's Case" is ruled by irony and symbolism, which are apparent in the story through the words of the narrator. The irony woven throughout the text builds up to an epiphonic moment, a main paradox in the story, which reveals to the reader Paul's true nature.
The theater and Carnegie Hall was where Paul "really lived". To him, the rest of his life was but "a sleep and a forgetting". The moment Paul stepped into either one of those places, he felt he was in his element. He "breathed like a prisoner set free". Paul's life was so monotonous and dull in comparison to his theater life, which he felt was his "secret temple". This alone provides insight into his character. He truly believed that he belonged to the arts. This makes Paul's case so sad because no one believed in him. This is what caused him to flee to New York to be in a place where he would be accepted for his true selt.