Pauls Case Analysis

710 Words3 Pages
Paul’s Matter A tragic suicide is the best way to describe Paul’s death. “Paul’s Case”, written by Willa Cather is a short story about a young boy in Pittsburg. Paul, the main character, has many problems in school, which are made apparent in a conference with the principal. Paul finds his life to be unsatisfactory and decides to steal some money from his employer and venture to New York. He buys an expensive wardrobe and checks himself into the Waldorf Astoria hotel. Paul has a night out on the town with a freshman from Yale that end in a bad note. Paul finds out that his theft has gone public in Pittsburg and his dad has come to look for him. He has one last dinner at the Astoria, wakes up the next morning and takes a cab to a set of railroad tracks where he jumps in front of them and commits suicide. The author uses symbolism, character, and conflict to portray the central idea in the story. The central idea is that lofty ideals wither in the confrontation of reality. Cather uses symbolism to back her central idea in the story. Paul wears a red carnation often times in the story, which is a symbol for him self. The narrator mentions: “somehow vastly more lovely and alluring that they blossomed so unnaturally in the snow”(96). Cather is trying to make apparent the idea that the carnations are not in their true state of reality or belonging, therefore Paul is one in the same. The carnations are representative of Paul’s lofty ideals. “The carnations presence is evidence of his defiance”(Murphy). This is referring to the moment in the principal’s office where Paul shows sign of his lofty ideals and inability to confront reality. At the end of the story Paul buys carnations that wither in the cold. He then buries one of the flowers in the snow before leaping in front of the train. The burial of the carnation is symbolic of the confrontation with reality and a
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