Paul's Case: A Study In Temperament By Willa Cather

When authors take the time to write literature, they have a purpose for writing. The author’s purpose can categorize literature into a variety of genres. If the work is written as a way for readers to escape the real world and for the author to make money, then it is classified as commercial fiction; however, if it is written as a means to plunge the reader into the deeper meaning of life, then it is literary fiction (Arp and Johnson 62). Because a literary work expects its audience to actively analyze as they read, readers can “expect to come away from a literary work with an enhanced understanding of life” (Arp and Johnson 65). Since “Paul’s Case: A Study in Temperament” by Willa Cather demonstrates the active role the reader must take, an understanding of life’s difficulties, and an unfortunate ending, it is an example of literary

fiction.
Resentful towards his common-place life on Cordelia Street, Paul finds his niche in the glamour of theater. He desires the extravagance of the upper-class, as opposed to the monotony of his everyday life. Working as an usher at Carnegie Hall, Paul temporarily escapes his father’s expectations for him to become an average business man with a plain wife and a large family. However, after he conveyed how much he despised his teachers and school, Paul was expelled from Pittsburgh High School and forced to quit his job by his father. With his means of escaping reality revoked, Paul runs away to New York City. Paul buys himself dress clothes, silver from Tiffany’s, fancy dinners, theater tickets, and a hotel room with a thousand dollars of stolen money. On the morning of his eighth day in New York, he reads in the newspaper that his father returned the money he stole and is on his way to retrieve him. Rather than going back to his home on Cordelia Street, Paul finds himself standing on the tracks of an approaching train. Paul’s final thoughts are not of his family, but of places he will never get to see (Cather 234-251).
If the reader wishes to finish a literary work with a changed perspective of the world, then he or she must first read actively.

According to Perrine’s Literature, “as you proceed through the chapters, learning bout plot, characterization, theme, and so forth, you will gradually develop the instincts of a serious reader” (Arp and Johnson 65). Becoming a serious reader by identifying these aspects, allows one to emerge with a new meaning of life. Willa Cather utilizes symbolism in “Paul’s Case” to foreshadow. Paul usually wears a red carnation in his coat and his teachers felt “his whole attitude was symbolized by his shrug and his flippantly red carnation flower” (Cather 235). This becomes significant when Cather uses red carnations to symbolize Paul’s descent from happiness. Before Paul commits suicide, he reflects on the flowers he saw behind the glass case in New York and how they were making one last-stand against the inevitable winter (Cather 250). These flowers signify Paul’s attempts to survive in a world that opposes his views. Both the flowers and Paul are unable to live against their

conditions.
Literary fiction is similar to scuba diving because it plunges its audience into life by relaying the good, the bad, and the ugly aspects. It does not just skim the surface because it “is written by someone with serious artistic intentions who hopes to broaden, deepen, and sharpen the reader’s awareness of life” by “enabling [him or her] to understand life’s difficulties” (Arp and Johnson 62). “Paul’s Case” illustrates how easy it is for one to hide from the truth. Paul uses theater as his escape from the expectations of others and the monotony of his home life; however, it is not as perfect as he wishes to believe. He sees those in the theater living a life full of luxury compared to middle-class life. But actually, the actresses “were hardworking women, most of them supporting indigent husbands or brothers” (Cather 243). Ironically, these women worked harder than Paul’s father and his neighbors. These women not only worked to support themselves but their family. They were not free to sit on their porches, like Paul’s neighbors, to relax and socialize on the weekends (Cather 240). The soprano soloist that Paul views as “a veritable queen of Romance” is actually an older woman with many children (Cather 237). Paul is deluded from the truth by the beautiful fairytale he envisioned. Finally, he realizes the extent of his illusion and feels as if “all the world had become Cordelia Street” (Cather 249). The life he thought he was destined to lead is impossible when money is everything. By following Paul’s journey, readers begin to compare their lives to Paul’s and ponder difficulties they have not yet imagined.
Since literary fiction is not made to be solely entertaining, it usually does not end happily ever after. Perrine’s Literature states “if fiction is to reflect and illuminate life, it must acknowledge human defeats as well as triumphs” and “cause readers to brood over the outcome” (Arp and Johnson 108). The gloomy ending of “Paul’s Case” reflects these characteristics. After Paul discovers he has been exposed of his crime and that his father is on his way to New York, Paul decides that it is time to end his life. The story ends with him lying on train tracks in the snow reflecting on the ugliness of the world. As a train approached, he jumped in front of it and was hit. Paul’s final thoughts were of regret: “As he fell, the folly of his haste occurred to him with merciless clearness, the vastness of what he had left undone” (Cather 250). “Paul’s Case” ends quite unhappily with the protagonist rethinking his suicide just as it occurs.
A literary work can be characterized as actively involving the reader, providing a deeper meaning of life, and ending unhappily or ambiguously. Because “Paul’s Case” contains these elements, it can be categorized as literary fiction rather than commercial fiction. Although literary fiction is not one’s typical choice for a relaxing read, consider reading some for a life-changing experience. It encourages a different style of thinking and opens the mind to endless thoughts. Even though it does not usually end with the guy getting the girl or the football team winning the championship, literary fiction offers an ending true to reality. Not to say that commercial endings are completely false, but a literary endings illustrate the whole of human nature: victories and defeats.