Theme Of Isolation In Paul's Case

It is a common practice in short fiction to highlight the negative aspects of the human struggle. One of the main ways this is conveyed in through isolation which brings intense focus on the actions of the main character. In “Paul’s Case” by Willa Cather, the main character, Paul, is a young teen that is considered a “bad case” because he is unable to act like the typical child his age. This is intensifies when he steals money and runs away to New York. In Katherine Mansfield’s “Miss Brill” the main character is an older woman who, instead of interacting with others and living her life, chooses to put on her fur coat and watch as people meander around her. The characters seem to stand in stark difference; a young boy and an old woman, which leads to them using different mechanisms to isolate themselves but their self isolation lead to the same distortion and …show more content…
Paul’s constant craving to lie to those around him and eventual departure from his town, both drive him to distorting his place in reality which reaches the pinnacle of his depressive episode and his suicide. By lying about the people he surrounds himself with, he distances himself from his family and the close community. Paul grew up on Cordelia Street and has always felt confined to the expectations and paths set forth for him because of that. This pressure causes him to act out in school, and lie to his classmates. Although, it is believed that “he had never lied for pleasure, even at school; but to be noticed and admired, to assert his difference from other Cordelia Street boys.” This elevated self view is his coping for the depressive reaction he has to his own isolation. Thus, his separation from his peers can be linked to how he distorts the people around him. He inflates the