Paul's Case

Motifs- colors

-Yellow is associated with the repulsion Paul feels for his home. -. The young clerk is associated with red. His face and mouth are red, which reflects his formerly wild nature, now tamed by his conventional life. -Riches are associated with the color purple. Paul scorns his teachers for failing to decorate their buttonholes with purple violets, as rich people might. -Cather uses white and blue to portray Paul himself. His teeth, lips, and face are pale, which suggests his emotional strain. White is also a positive color for him: white snow often falls during his days in New York, where he is happiest.

Setting

South america, Paul's words: School, the neighborhood Strong smell Paul's family are conform with they have. Paul's word if ugly for him. Alternative worlds: theatre (free, magical, beautiful) Paul's one "real world" = real, beatiful, the ugly part is paul because he doesn't belong there,

Rising Action

meeting with the teachers, he's behavior is getting worse

Characters

Guest's perspective: Paul is polite, helpful, love him. Hotel staff's perspective: polite, well dressed.

Falling Action

His time in New York.

Motifs

-drugs and food

Character: Paul

-Paul is not a normative character = you don't want to be like him but the story makes you sympathize with him. -tall and thin, weak looking, old look, odd, his eyes their bright and glitter Hyper adolescent: overly adolescent, refuses to accepts reality, rebellious, independent, very sensitive, always worrying about what people would think of him, Has a notion of reality that is wraped, Flaw: paul believes that the materialism is symbolism for happiness. Paul's addiction: daydreams, pleasure, beauty, Round character Static: he doesn't change at all. His change for worst is just a reflection of what he is. He doesn't regret his pain, but ...

Character's: Paul's Father

Paul's father perspective about Paul: he does love him (trying to build a path of success for Paul) and pay for his debt).

Climax

Preparing for His suicide.

Resolution

Suicide.

Theme

THEME: a celebration and criticism of youth's view of the world.

Characters: theatre's people

Theatre's people perspective: they feel sorry for him because Paul's wrong perspective about their lives., overall, they like him

Author

Willa Cather

Crisis

when he steals the money and runs away.

Symbols: The red carnations

The red carnations Paul often wears in his buttonhole represent Paul himself. At the beginning of the story, when Paul wears a red carnation to meet his teachers and principal, the adults correctly interpret its presence as evidence of Paul's continued defiance. They want him to show remorse, but the jaunty flower proves that he feels none. At the end of the story, Paul buys red carnations. As he walks to the train tracks, he notices that they have wilted in the cold. He buries one of the flowers in the snow before leaping in front of a train. The carnation's burial is a symbolic prelude to Paul's actual suicide