"Paul's Case" by Willa Cather

Paper Summary:

This paper examines the book, "Paul's Case", by Willa Cather. According to the paper, the environment in the story strongly influences the behavior of Paul, the main character, and his lack of interest in his surroundings. The paper further discusses Paul's need to escape from reality.

From the Paper:

"Paul was living on Cordelia Street and the feelings he describes upon returning home make it clear that he didn't like his home. Cordelia Street always held "the hopeless feeling of sinking back forever into ugliness and commonness that he had always had when he came home" (71). But why didn't he like his home? It wasn't the money or poverty but lack of essential love in his life that caused him to become a recluse and make him feel "repulsion for the flavorless, colorless mass of everyday existence" (71). The only way he could make up for the lack of love in life was to do something that was totally new and totally exciting. That is why he loves life in New York which represents a new environment and thus a new life for him. It is there that "He grew more and more vivacious and animated and the color came back to his cheeks and lips" (70). We notice that New York was beautiful not because it was a nice place but because it was new. Everything that he wanted to experience, he could experience now. The love of art that he had inherited from his mother turned alive once again and he was a totally new person in these new surroundings. "

Sample of Sources Used:

• 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.
• American Psychiatric Association. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders: DSM-IV. 4th ed. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association, 1994

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• Book Review # 139734 : "Conflict and Predicaments in "Paul's Case"
• Comparison Essay # 16555 : "Paul and Trevor"

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