Life At Home In Paul's Case By Willa Cather
Often, people feel out of place in a certain environment. Rarely is it ever that a person has this feeling in his own home. This is how Paul feels in Willa Cather’s story “Paul’s Case”. The main character Paul despises the life that he lives at home and at school. He feels as though the people around him cannot comprehend the feelings that he experiences. His fondness towards his home on Cordelia Street are much different than what he feels for Carnegie Hall, the stock theater, and New York City. No doubt, Paul has a strong feeling of resentment towards his home on Cordelia Street. He feels that life there is far too simple and that people do not truly live life to the fullest. To Paul, the pictures of Washington and Calvin and the …show more content…
“Not once, but a hundred times, Paul had planned this entry into New York” (Cather 185). It is the location that embodies all of his hopes and dreams. New York is a fancy place that is home to the greatest theaters in the world. Cordelia Street is boring, uniform and lifeless. New York City is unique, cultured and elegant. Its citizens appreciate the finer things in life, just as Paul does. This place is Paul’s escape from his boring life back in Pittsburgh. “He was now entirely rid of his nervous misgivings, of his forced aggressiveness, of the imperative desire to show himself different from his surroundings. He felt now that his surroundings explained him” (Cather 187).
Ultimately, all Paul wants to do is escape life on Cordelia Street. The boring life there is normal there is not suitable for him. He despises the people that live there because they have accepted the boring life that has been handed to them. He feels as though he is chained down in some way; as though he is not freely living life. The stock theater, Carnegie Hall, and New York City were all outlets that allow Paul to temporarily escape from his disappointing reality on Cordelia Street. Paul is able to taste this freedom, and he decides that he cannot go back to his boring
Coming Of Age In Mississippi By Anne Moody
573 Words | 3 PagesAnne Moody’s memoir, Coming of Age in Mississippi, documents life growing up in Mississippi during the 1960s. The book outlines her life through her childhood, high school days, college life, and while she was a part of the civil rights movement. In the memoir, Moody serves as a direct voice for herself and her fellow African American neighbors, whom were enduring continued unequal treatment, despite the rights they had won after the Civil War. Part one of, Coming of Age in Mississippi, begins on Mr. Carter’s plantation in Anne’s childhood.
Aspects Of Naturalism In 'Paul's Case' By Willa Cather
845 Words | 4 PagesPaul’s Case, as alluded to earlier is a story about a certain young man who is a Calvinist and he is clouded by feelings of not belonging to this life. According to the story he lived on a street named Cordelia located in Pittsburgh, and we are given an impression of a street cluttered with cookie cutter houses and city dwellers that seemed like suburbanites. According to the author, there was an aura of despair in that city. This same aura extended even to Paul’s own room. His life was a life of misery having been surrounded by a father that abused him, teachers that never cared and classmate that misunderstood him and this caused Paul to feel he is not worth to be in their presence or even company.
Dialectical Journal Chapter 9
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Rhetorical Analysis Chapter 22
386 Words | 2 PagesThey had fond, naive memories of their river back home, but they know that they can never return to that level of innocences again. Paul goes on to think that, “We are forlorn like children, and experienced like old men, we are crude and sorrowful and superficial.” This quote shows the physiological change
Character Analysis Of Paul In The Lamp At Noon By Sinclair Ross
570 Words | 3 PagesWhen Paul returns to his barn, he finally notices the state of his horses, something he should be able to care for with ease, and questions himself. “What [ ] could he do for his wife and son” (147) if he could barely care for the horses in his own barn? When I finally realized how selfish I was acting I “felt a sudden shame” (147) just like Paul. This realization led us to start thinking positively; maybe moving was a good thing. I remember feeling nervous as I built up the courage to go talk to my mother about how I honestly felt about the move, but also wanting to tell her that I was on board with it.
Book Report On Maestro By Peter Goldsworthy
1581 Words | 7 PagesPaul’s disillusioned about his quest for perfection and his belief that he is “far better at playing piano than anyone else” only contributed to the magnitude of his downfall toward the end of the novel, “Honourable mention became the story of my life, no matter how much I practiced. I had found my level”. In this respect, Paul is largely “dissatisfied” with the outcome of his life: “greying, fast approaching mid-life, [his] backside stuck fast to a minor chair in a minor school”. This contrasts with his earlier hopes of attaining the “centre-stage, up front”. In this sense, Paul is not only perturbed by his recurring pattern of “Also rans”, but also disappointed that his dreams go unfulfilled.
Examples Of Isolationism In Paul's Case
109 Words | 1 PagesIn Willa Cather’s “Paul’s Case” we find a young boy struggling with this awful predicament; simply trying to find himself and that elusive yet glorious sense of belonging. “Paul’s Case” is a gibe at certain American traditions and too those people walking about' with closed
Direct Characterization Of Paul In Tangerine
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1182 Words | 5 PagesAt the end of the day in his room he tries to look back at his past but simply he cannot connect or find his way back to his youth. This shows that Paul no longer
How Does Paul Change In Tangerine
460 Words | 2 PagesPeople change people. In the novel Tangerine, by Edward Bloor, Paul changes his attitude, perspective, and actions based on the character influences around him. Even though Paul starts off shy and timid of his older brother Erik, he learns that he must stand up for himself or Erik will always win, and as he is exposed to more characters and environments he begins to develop as a character to be more outspoken. Paul was the family Runt, constantly being ignored and overlooked. Paul could never speak of anything due to the fear of his brothers reaction “I didn’t know what else to say!
Nationalism In Erich Maria Remarque's All Quiet On The Western Front
1091 Words | 5 PagesNear the end of Paul’s leave of absence, he felt isolated and full of regret, “I ought never to have come here. Out there I was indifferent and often hopeless-I will never be able to be so again. I was a soldier, and now I am nothing but an agony for myself, for my mother, for everything that is so comfortless and without end. ”(Remarque 185) This quote accentuates the narrator’s separation from his family, when he cries out “I ought never to have come here.”
Summary Of Tangerine By Edward Bloor
152 Words | 1 PagesIn the book Tangerine, By Edward Bloor, an important choice paul made was when he chose to change schools and go to Tangerine Middle School. Paul chose to change schools so he could restart his school year and reputation, and is shown when the author states,” Football and soccer season happen at the same time,dad, it’s ok if you can’t pay attention to both, just let me go to Tangerine Middle School. I wouldn’t be the waterboy, I would be the goalie”(Bloor 194). This choice impacted paul and the plot greatly,which is stated when the author says,” I want to go to Tangerine MS with no IEP.
Greek Tragedy In Toni Morrison's Beloved
1540 Words | 7 PagesMeanwhile, Paul himself is another character whom Morrison uses to achieve mimesis. He keeps his emasculating torments as a slave in a “tin can” where his heart used to be, which he is unwilling to open because he feared if Sethe “got a whiff of the contents it would really shame him” (Morrison 85). His time as a slave made him see himself as a property rather than a man, which results in his loss of identity and repression of emotions, as well as prevents him from connecting with Sethe. His inability to convey his love prevents him from accepting and moving on from his trauma, and therefore creates pity.
Charley Edwards Character Analysis
474 Words | 2 PagesWithout ever uttering a single word, Charley Edwards possibly had the greatest positive and negative effect on Paul in the story Paul’s Case. Charley Edwards is a teen performer at the local theater, and Paul’s love interest. In one paragraph, Charley made Paul the happiest boy in the world; but in the next Paul became even more alone than he had ever been. How can the man, who never verbalizes a word, have such a profound and life altering impact on Paul?
A Character Analysis Of Paul's Case By Willa Cather
1375 Words | 6 PagesWilla Cather’s short story, “Paul’s Case” is about a young man who is determined to make his aspirations a reality by all means necessary. That meant being deceitful as a start of gaining control and social status and telling lies to get to where he felt like he belonged, but where did he belong? This desire was the beginning of a journey that would eventually leave him with nothing. There is something unusual about Paul, something that can only be explained by his demeanor and actions throughout the story. With that said, I intend to construct a complete character analysis of Paul as he searches for satisfaction.
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