Suicide In Paul's Case

Willa Cather’s short story “Paul’s Case” tells the story of Paul, a juvenile boy who struggles to find his place at his home in Pittsburg. After stealing money from his new employer, Denny and Carson’s, Paul goes on a shopping spree to “live the sort of life he was meant to live” in New York, and finally feels as if he has a place in this world (120). Larry Rubin, a professor at Newberry College, uses his paper, “The Homosexual Motif in Willa Cather’s ‘Paul’s Case’”, to highlight the hidden message of homosexuality and the idea of suicide in “Paul’s Case”. Rubin begins his paper with the social taboos of the period when Cather’s story was written. Cather wrote “Paul’s Case” in 1905 during the “period of Victorian repressiveness” which explains the hidden sexuality of the main character (127). During this time, sexuality was not a term used to describe someone because relationships between the same sex were not displayed. Rubin mentions this to argue that Cather is hinting at the homosexuality of Paul. …show more content…
The clothes and accessories Paul wears are not the ordinary dress for boys or men in his town. Cather describes him as dressing like a “dandy” because Paul walks around with a red carnation attached to his outfit (128). Rubin also points out Paul’s use of violet water, flowery perfume, to emphasize Paul’s feminine nature (129). Paul keeps this hidden from his father which Rubin believes symbolizes Paul’s feeling of an outcast in society. Rubin mentions the most notable trait is Paul’s choice of companions. Paul only has relationships with boys around his age. Paul befriends an actor at the theatre and a Yale student. Paul helps dress the actor and spends a night out with the Yale student. Rubin mentions the scene when Paul and the Yale student say goodnight to imply that Paul “wanted something from him”, sex