Paul's Case

755 Words4 Pages
Stress is something that can manipulate one’s life, to the point of suicide. Throughout the short story, “Paul’s Case” written by Willa Cather, the author reveals how the main protagonist, Paul struggles to deal with the strain societal beliefs deposited on his shoulders. Paul’s addictive nature to art brings him into a phase of rejuvenation, where he feels happiest around the theater, listening to music, or gazing at paintings. However when he is faced with reality of real life, he interprets everything as a miserable place, just like Cordelia Street. Paul displays a specific behavior of disowning the poor and respecting the rich. Throughout the short story “Paul’s Case”, Willa Cather connects societal contributions, which make Paul’s life an unpredictable turn of emotions with various duty’s in which help him deal with the hardships he is faced with. Willa Cather includes different aspects on how the relationships between society, and Paul’s Case have a strong interaction with one another. Paul, like many other young adults in today’s society, has little knowledge of how money works in real life. In the story, Paul steels his father’s money and runs away to New York, where he finds peace and tranquility in the art of theater. This rebellious attitude that Paul displays, is due to the constant pressure society has positioned on how Paul should live his life. Paul needed to find a stress relief from the constant reminders of real life. This release was established every time “the symphony began, when Paul [would sink] into one of the rear seats [of the theater] with a long sigh of relief and [loose] himself” (Line 14). Paul was unaware of all the sacrifice and hard work that was needed in order for each spectacle to derive, which made Paul’s life very unrewarding, in the sense that he did not know what hard work was, and where it got someone in life. Willa Cather
Open Document