Paul's Case

             In Willa Cather’s “Paul’s Case”, a big concept is running away. In the context of the story, Paul is running away from the society in which he doesn’t believe his made for or fits in to. In school, he doesn’t pay attention and does not care about his work. His teachers think so little of his character that they feel ashamed by their dislike of Paul. Paul doesn’t have the interests of other kids in his school, so he doesn’t feel apart of society. Paul loves the Carnegie Hall and the ambience of higher class living, a love that most other teens don’t share. Paul is also different than most in regards to sexuality, as homosexuality was frowned upon in that time. He doesn’t feel he can express his feelings freely in his monotonous middle class life.

            This attempt to run away by Paul eventually fails to succeed. Paul runs away to New York to experience affluence and upper class living, but finds it doesn’t satisfy him. In the end, Paul feels the only way to escape society is to end his life entirely, and he kills himself.