What’s “Wrong” with Paul? - Josh Arbess - September 30th, 2016 - ENG4U-03 Paul’s “case” is one of false identity and internal conflict. As Willa Cather describes Paul’s story, she highlights intricate aspects of his character by distinguishing him from others. Paul’s stark contrast to those around him effectively labels his case as “wrong”. Unable to fit into the society around him, Paul expresses his feelings as a misfit and manifests poor behaviour. Paul’s concealment of his true identity results in his difficulty integrating with those around him. Specifically, Paul has many attributes and behaviours which lead the reader to discern him as gay. His teachers say that “there is something wrong about [Paul]”, in response to Paul’s poor behaviour
Paul goes on to describe how other people are all the same in how they respond to life and now he can not relate. Paul thinks, “For they all come back to the same thing, how badly it goes and how well it goes; one thinks it is this way, another that; and yet they are always absorbed in the things that go to make up their existence,” (Remarque,146). Next, Paul stated that “Formerly I lied in just the same way myself, but now I feel no contact here,” (Remarque,146). This proves how the main character realized how his aspects on life has changed since the
At the beginning of the book, Paul is an outcast, “Hey, Eclipse Boy,” and is never noticed, except by a few people, “Unfortunately, nobody… paid much attention to me.” At first, Paul is a person no one really notices or cares about him, not even his own Dad. Almost Everyone is more focused on his evil older brother, Erik. Paul is also almost always cowardice, “I’m
This all ties back to how Paul finds out about his friends’ true personalities and furthers his understanding about
In the beginning, Paul is a compassionate young man. He loved his family, he was emotional, he was a normal young man. Like all of the other soldiers in the war, Paul begins to lose sanity very slowly. Paul becomes essentially a automaton of war, a robot who can’t feel. There is occasions throughout the book where Paul’s true self, and the true effect of war
In Willa Sibert Cather’s “Paul’s Case,” Paul’s development of denial stems from both his relationship with his father and his loss of the one thing he loved, theater. Throughout the story, it is evident that Paul wishes to live an opposite life to which he currently does. He feels unbelonging residing in a community that values hard, blue-collar work. Paul senses his personality would fit in a place such as New York. Thus, stealing money, running away, and fulfilling his dreams.
This shows that Paul had known the truth for so long, but never had the guts to tell it. Paul knows so many things, but he’s just not ready to let it
In paragraph 11, there is a shift in point of view. How is Paul’s character revealed here and through whose eyes? Record examples of the characterization
This all started when paul became a Nazi. He did this to spite his father who was a strict man who thought what the Nazi's were doing was wrong.He taught what they were doing was wrong to,but he hated his father with a passion.He goes through the Nazi training and became a soldier under an unnecessarily strict commander like his
Paul is guilty of violating section A, code A.1.C (2014) in regards to how he handled the report that he was given. An example of this is found when Paul is indecisive in whether or not he would read the report. At first, Paul mentioned that he will not read the report, but when Sophie began further talking about it, he ultimately changed his mind and read it. This shows an inconsistency in how he handled the report, and is not how a professional counselor who is following section A, code A.1.C would have handled this. The situation with the report would have been handled better had Paul made a decision to read it and stuck with it. This would have benefited Sophie in that she would have acknowledged from the start that Paul had not went behind
Paul has very little interest in his class studies. Although Paul's appearance is that of a perfect gentleman, his teachers find his behavior inappropriate and unacceptable. They have no understanding of Paul's behavior and do not wish to learn. How others perceive Paul only encourages him to fulfill his dream of escaping his monotonous lifestyle. Paul is longing for
the love and care he unknowingly needs. Paul takes on roles that disguise his own traits and turns him into what he believes to be a person nobody can say no to. When he takes on these roles, he
The behavior of Willa Cather’s character, Paul, in her short story, “Paul’s Case” was complex and somewhat out of the ordinary. Paul was a self-absorbed young man who not only craved the attention of those that he idealistically regarded as superior which led to his withdrawal from reality, but he treated those within his reality with contempt, all the while striving for an unachievable self-perceived utopia.
Consequently, Paul is just one example of how all character discovered the true and cruel intents of the society they lived in. Thus, Paul like all the others fought against the corrupted system knowing the consequences but did so in order to try and protect generations to
Paul’s Case is an account of disheartening events, all of which begins in Pittsburg, in the early 1900’s. Paul is unlike other high school kids his age, and seems to always be in some sort of mischief. As our story’s main character and anti-hero, Paul’s nature is one his peers cannot fathom. His personality can be described as unrealistic, dissembled and deep down, suicidal. He is the school’s exile, yet looks at just about everyone with weak revulsion.
He is a quiet boy that shows aggression when angered or troubled. “Just then Dad and Erik turned the corner and pulled into the driveway. As usual when Erik appears, the attention switched from me to him.” (19).As seen in this sentence, Paul is not the center of attention. However, he can stand up for himself when necessary, this shows signs of ruthlessness.