“Paul’s Case” Essay Fear is defined as an unpleasant emotion caused by the belief that something or someone is dangerous, likely to cause pain or become a threat. Considering this definition, the feeling of fear itself can be precisely distinguished. However, actions and consequences surrounding apprehension become more obscure. In the short story “Paul’s Case”, Willa Cather focuses on the ambiguous feedback enveloping fear. In fact, Cather suggests the concept that fear is a mean of concealing reality. Throughout the short story, Paul has a constant sense of fear. First, at home, Paul is continually anxious that he will get stuck there, surrounded by ordinary and normal lifestyles. Furthermore, Paul thinks he will never be able to escape
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This is exemplified when Paul answers his principal’s questions as to why his is not following his suspension by “(stating), politely enough, that he (wants) to come back to school” (197). Cather then continues to include, “This was a lie, but Paul was quite accustomed to lying; found it, indeed, indispensable for overcoming friction” (197). This statement only creates emphasis on the prevailing continuation of lying throughout the short story and its rationale. Paul then progresses to lie when he asks “his father whether he could go to George’s to get some help in his geometry…” (204). However, once Paul “left the house with his geometry conspicuously under his arm, …. (he) began to live again” (205), by escaping to the theatre. However, Paul not only lies to his superior figures, but also lies to himself. He is constantly envisioning himself as a part of an upper, more luxurious class, especially when “he seemed to feel himself go after (the singer) up the steps, into the warm, lighted building, into an exotic, a tropical world of shiny, glistening surfaces and basking ease” (201). In this instance, Paul convinces himself that he is entering an elite party, while in reality he is really bystanding the party outside alone in the
This is exemplified when Paul answers his principal’s questions as to why his is not following his suspension by “(stating), politely enough, that he (wants) to come back to school” (197). Cather then continues to include, “This was a lie, but Paul was quite accustomed to lying; found it, indeed, indispensable for overcoming friction” (197). This statement only creates emphasis on the prevailing continuation of lying throughout the short story and its rationale. Paul then progresses to lie when he asks “his father whether he could go to George’s to get some help in his geometry…” (204). However, once Paul “left the house with his geometry conspicuously under his arm, …. (he) began to live again” (205), by escaping to the theatre. However, Paul not only lies to his superior figures, but also lies to himself. He is constantly envisioning himself as a part of an upper, more luxurious class, especially when “he seemed to feel himself go after (the singer) up the steps, into the warm, lighted building, into an exotic, a tropical world of shiny, glistening surfaces and basking ease” (201). In this instance, Paul convinces himself that he is entering an elite party, while in reality he is really bystanding the party outside alone in the