Symbolic Analysis on Paul's Case

Cather writes the short story "Paul's Case" in third person omniscient. Cather mainly focuses on Paul's point of view, but the thoughts and feelings of the teachers were very important in understanding Paul. Most people do not see their own faults and habits, so the teachers' point of view was essential. Paul hates his whole life and is extremely depressed about his current situation. Everything that Paul experiences that is beyond his immediate daily life is so heavenly and extraordinarily beautiful to him. None of Paul's teachers care for him or his roguish behavior, but they also express that they don't fully comprehend Paul making them feel a little guilty for being so hard on him. The thoughts Paul had before he died weren't the stereotypical flashes of good memories, he thought about all the things he should have done and wished he had done. Cather shows that life is precious and most people have a hard time appreciating the good things in life until they reach their end. Cather also expresses the horrific regret of committing suicide even in the worst mental states.

As Paul enters the faculty room, he tries to deceive the teachers by dressing up for the interrogation just as criminals dress for trial. His clothes were a "trifle outgrown,... his overcoat was frayed and worn," which shows that the suit does not fit him. He symbolizes a past life which he still holds on to. He entered the room "suave and smiling" showing that Paul thinks he looks good in his outfit. The opal pin and the red carnation are Paul's attempts increase his attractiveness and classiness. They distract the teachers from the imperfections on his jacket, which symbolizes the aspect that Paul hates about himself. Throughout the story, Paul is trying to cover up who he really is by lying to his dad, teachers, and the rest of world. Paul thinks lying is "indispensable for overcoming friction." When Paul goes to New York, he feels relieved that he no longer has to lie to anyone because he is in a completely different world than his own. Actually, Paul is lying throughout his week stay because he is playing the role of an accomplished, wealthy individual, which is not the true Paul. The accomplished, wealthy individual disappeared when Paul spent all the money he stole.

The faculty feels that the red carnation is "not properly significant of the contrite spirit befitting a boy under the ban of suspension." This shows that the teachers recognize that Paul is trying to hide his real self. The teachers make another comparison with the "scandalous" and "flippantly" red carnation when Paul bows as he exits the faculty room. The teachers feel that the red carnation is a deceiving distraction from Paul's true nature and it is just another representation Paul's many faces.

The drawing master describes him as "haunted," since he maintained a "set smile [that] did not once desert him" even though he was being yelled at, a scene described by one of the teachers as a "miserable cat set at bay by a ring of tormentors." The set smile, the "contemptuous and irritating" eyebrows are part of mask that Paul puts on. His facial features represent lifelessness and static movement. These two characteristics personify Paul in that he feels as if he is not going anywhere and that he doesn't have any acceleration. Paul runs down the hill whistling the soldier's chorus from Faust after leaving school feeling very light-hearted. This positive reference to the Faust opera shows a similarity between Paul and Faust. Faust felt that although he devoted his whole life to the pursuit of knowledge, he still had gone nowhere. In the opera, Faust turns to black magic and considers suicide. Paul and Faust both feel that if they haven't achieved anything worthy then they might as well kill themselves.

Paul has specific behaviors in each of his classes. In one he habitually covers his eyes with his hands throughout the class, in another he just stares out the window, and in complete contrast, Paul spends another class making a running commentary that contains a "humorous intent." When Paul covers his eyes, he is closing the window to his soul, hiding himself from everyone. It represents how Paul hopes that if he can't see anyone, than no one can see him because he just plainly would rather not be there. When Paul stares out the window, it expresses his desire to escape and try something new. The window closes him inside the life he wishes to leave. He wants to experience new opportunities outside his existing life. This last example indicates that Paul is screaming for attention, which he does not receive from anyone. His father and his teachers will only give him negative attention and authoritative instructions, which Paul thoroughly despises. The class clown is yet another role that Paul plays to cover up who he really is.

The teachers compare Paul's eyes with those of a drug user, specifically belladonna, but then they describe a "glassy glitter" in his eyes, "which that drug does not produce." There is a minor insinuation that Paul might be using drugs, such as when he envisions his world with "a shuddering repulsion for the flavorless, colorless mass of everyday existence." He compares his depression to the come down of a Dubach, perhaps implying that he has experimented with drugs or alcohol in order to experience a spiritual enlightenment. The glassy glitter in his eyes represents the "something that no-one understood about Paul."

The teachers could not reach an agreement on the authentic cause of his disorderly and contemptuous behavior, which he made "not the least effort to conceal." Paul's father suggested daily that he model himself after the neighbor who was "looked upon in Cordelia Street as the young man with a future." This young man is described as having a "ruddy complexion and a compressed red mouth." These two red characteristics are completely opposite from a teacher's description of when Paul face while he was sleeping during class. "White, blue-veined... drawn and wrinkled like an old man's around the eyes and lips, twitching even in his sleep." Cather opens this scene by describing the setting as a warm afternoon emphasizing the pale death on Paul's face. Even when it was warm outside, Paul was still just as cold to everything in his life.

The one joy in Paul's life is the symphony. He skips dinner to go to Carnegie Hall before it is even open. It was outside and Paul goes to the deserted picture gallery. The deserted picture gallery and the sleeping guard symbolize Paul's lonely life. He finds comfort in sitting in front of pictures daydreaming