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Warning Signs Missed
In 1905, when Willa Cather wrote “Paul’s Case��, parents, teachers, and even psychologists may not have readily recognized Paul as a child dealing with depression and sexual identity issues. His fastidious manner, obsession with art, but not as a participant, and his much greater obsession with money and its trapping, I believe shows signs of Paul’s depression and sexual identity issues.
Although Paul comes from a lower middle class family, he does what he can to dress up the frayed and worn clothes he wears. He wears an opal pin in his necktie, a “scandalous red carnation,�� as viewed by teachers at his school, and has “something of a dandy about him�� (516-517). He uses his eyes with their “hysterical brilliancy�� in a “theatrical sort of way, peculiarly offensive in a boy�� and is described by a teacher as not being strong (516). The narrator, without saying as much, I believe is letting us know that Paul is a homosexual youth. Everybody in Paul’s life and even Paul himself would have believed homosexuality was wrong. Although Paul can’t help who he is, he does his best to stay true to himself. I believe it is his constant feeling of alienation and his bleak prospect of the future that not only holds Paul in depression but also makes him completely self absorbed.
Paul’s depression and alienation blinds his view to any sort of a plausible future and without seeing a future he cannot care about the present. Paul doesn’t seem to care about anybody but himself. He believes that money could change his existence and that he should have been born to a higher financial status. He steals the money from the theater with no remorse or any thoughts of how it will affect his family. He never gives a thought to his farther or sisters even when he knows his father has paid back the stolen money and is looking for him. His only care is to, for a short time, live the life he believes was meant for him. My impression is that Paul, from the very beginning of the story, knows exactly how his story will end. He knows his trip to New York is a last hooray and a sort of goodbye to his life, that troubled him so much.
Some readers may see Paul’s suicide as his last selfish act in an array of selfish acts. I sympathize with Paul. He never felt comfortable or like he belonged. I think his alienation was so complete in his mind, that it was as if he was completely alone. Even in the end, he doesn’t think of loved ones, because he doesn’t believe he has any loved ones. His complete loneliness is shown when instead of thinking of family, that he should have a connection to, he thinks of a burial for his carnation that has drooped and lost its vibrancy. If Paul was born in the twenty -first century I believe he would have received help instead of scorn and suspension from school and also may have made it to his adulthood.