The Character Of Paul In Paul's Case By Willa Cather

“His teachers felt this afternoon that his whole attitude was symbolized by his shrug and his flippantly red carnation flower, and they fell upon him without mercy . . .” (Cather 92). Paul is a character in the short story “Paul’s Case,” which was written by Willa Cather, who was not living a life that he wanted to. Cather did give me the impression that we should view Paul in an unsympathetic way in the beginning of the story, but by the end of it, my whole view on him changed. Throughout the story, Paul is someone who the readers need to take time to think about to fully understand him. He is a character who people should feel sympathetic to, and even though the author first portrayed Paul as an unsympathetic character in the beginning, towards …show more content…
It stated in the story, “he was a model usher; gracious and smiling he ran up and down the aisles; nothing was too much trouble for him; he carried messages and brought programmes as though it were his greatest pleasure in life . . .” (Cather 94). This gives the reader a whole different interpretation of Paul from when the story first started with talking about how he is a liar. Paul loved to work, and he did a good job doing it, and this shows the reader that he is not a bad person. Another quote that can make the reader feel sympathetic to Paul is “he had the feeling of not being able to let down, of its being impossible to give up this delicious experiment which was the only thing that could be called living at all” (Cather 95). This gives the readers the interpretation that working at a concert hall, and watching the concert makes him feel better than being with family or friends. The readers can feel sympathetic to him by how he doesn't seem to be able to fit in with the people around …show more content…
Willa Cather included a scene from the story where Paul has to ask his dad for money to pay for a ride to see his friend and receive help with his geometry. It specifically states in the story “After supper was over, and he had helped to dry the dishes, Paul nervously asked his father whether he could go to George’s to get some help in his geometry, and still more nervously asked for car fare” (Cather 99). This can give the reader the interpretation that Paul is not in a safe or enjoyable environment with his father. This makes the reader want to have sympathy for Paul because he is not even comfortable with the place he supposedly calls home. His father may treat him bad and because he is asking his father something that may make him upset, he becomes nervous when he asked