Themes in Two Related Short Stories

Paper Summary:

The purpose of this paper is to introduce, discuss, and analyze two works, "The Chrysanthemums" by John Steinbeck and "Paul's Case" by Willa Cather. Specifically, it discusses a thematic connection between the two stories. It looks at how both short stories highlight the themes of loneliness, unfulfilled desires, and dreams and how both main characters have dreams of something better that are never realized; they live tragic and unfulfilled lives because of this. It also discusses how, although these stories might not seem related, underneath two very different characters is the same basic problem, a dreamer's soul that is unfulfilled and desperately unhappy with real life.

From the Paper:

"The theme of loneliness, unfulfilled desires, and dreams is woven throughout this entire story, and it leads to the inevitable conclusion that often comes from living in a dream world. Paul's dreams outweigh his life, and he can never live up to the dreams he has set up for himself. He cannot cope with his real life; he finds it ugly and depressing. "He approached it tonight with the nerveless sense of defeat, the hopeless feeling of sinking back forever into ugliness and commonness that he had always had when he came home" (Cather ). Once he leaves his home in Pittsburgh, he can never return, because he has lived the good life, and he can never return to the drab life of his family. There is something inside Paul that can never be satisfied with second best or second rate, which is why he loves the theater and the fantasy of it so much."

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