Author Willa Cather in her short story, “Paul’s Case”, suggests that the main character Paul is unhappy with his lifestyle, and therefor he devotes himself towards living a life of luxury. She supports this by first showing Paul in his disciplinary meeting at school, then Paul goes to the theater, then he returns after the theater to the dullness and darkness of Cordelia Street. Cather’s purpose is to demonstrate that nothing good comes out of hoping for something that you don't have, and be ungrateful for the things you do have. Paul dreams for a life of luxury, because he believes that the aspects of that lifestyle will make him happy.
Paul mostly expresses his longing for the luxurious lifestyle with his behavior. In the beginning of the …show more content…
He sees his daily life on Cordelia Street and school as dull and gray, therefor providing him with a fascination with the theater and the art world for all of color and life. The theater for music and art is called Carnegie Hall, and the pieces which are played there strongly affect Paul as shown when Cather writes, “when the symphony began Paul sank into one of the rear seats with a long sigh of relief… the first sight of the instruments seemed to free some hilarious spirit inside of him..”(195). Paul’s addiction to the arts and music it caused him a lot of problems in the long term. At the moment, Paul feels happy and alive when he is looking at pieces of art, at the theater, or listening to music. However, we come to learn that this happiness is only an illusion, or rather his imagination. This is due to the fact that Paul doesn’t actually understand what he is seeing or hearing. In “Paul’s Case”, we see a lot of comparison between the relationship of reality versus fantasy. Paul is alienated by his family and other neighbors who live on Cordelia street. Instead, Paul would prefer to be at the theatre, or listen to the symphony. In this short story, the idea of beauty implies a particular insincerity, as seen when Cather writes, “Perhaps it was because, in Paul's world, the natural nearly always wore the guise of ugliness, that a certain
Paul mostly expresses his longing for the luxurious lifestyle with his behavior. In the beginning of the …show more content…
He sees his daily life on Cordelia Street and school as dull and gray, therefor providing him with a fascination with the theater and the art world for all of color and life. The theater for music and art is called Carnegie Hall, and the pieces which are played there strongly affect Paul as shown when Cather writes, “when the symphony began Paul sank into one of the rear seats with a long sigh of relief… the first sight of the instruments seemed to free some hilarious spirit inside of him..”(195). Paul’s addiction to the arts and music it caused him a lot of problems in the long term. At the moment, Paul feels happy and alive when he is looking at pieces of art, at the theater, or listening to music. However, we come to learn that this happiness is only an illusion, or rather his imagination. This is due to the fact that Paul doesn’t actually understand what he is seeing or hearing. In “Paul’s Case”, we see a lot of comparison between the relationship of reality versus fantasy. Paul is alienated by his family and other neighbors who live on Cordelia street. Instead, Paul would prefer to be at the theatre, or listen to the symphony. In this short story, the idea of beauty implies a particular insincerity, as seen when Cather writes, “Perhaps it was because, in Paul's world, the natural nearly always wore the guise of ugliness, that a certain