The Symbolism Of Color In 'Paul's Case'

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“Paul’s Case” is about a young boy named Paul, who is miserable with both his home life and his school life. Paul shows his happiest times when he is at Carnegie Hall, working as an usher; whereas here, Paul daydreams a great deal about the performers in front of him and how he wants their lavish lifestyle that results in failure of his school life. Once his father, a single parent, discovered his behavior, he forces him to quit working at Carnegie Hall, apologize to his teachers and go work elsewhere. Paul’s father spends his time setting a good example for him, not realizing that he is pushing Paul away when he constantly keeps pressuring his son to follow a neighbor of theirs for he believes that he would be a good role model for Paul. Paul’s teachers are also giving up on him, saying that he is nothing but impolite and a disturbance in class. Not happy with this change in jobs, Paul…show more content…
Cather uses symbols of color in her story to build the character Paul in her short story, “Paul's Case.” When explaining Paul’s feelings toward where he lives, “he approached it tonight with the nerveless sense of defeat, the hopeless feeling of sinking back forever into ugliness and commonness that he had always had when he came home” (168). Vainness is another feature that portrayed to make the audience feel as if he were one’s own son and deserved a beating; “Paul entered the faculty room suave and smiling” (164), shows a boy often having no respect for his elders. Cather portrays Paul’s character as a daydreamer who lives in a fantasy world and cannot come to terms with reality. He wanted to live the life of the rich and famous, “he reflected upon the mysterious dishes that were brought into the dining-room, the green bottles in buckets of ice, as he had seen them in the supper party pictures of the Sunday supplement”

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