Paul s Unhealthy Desire in Pauls Case Essay -- Pauls Case Essays

capital of Minnesota s Unhealthy Desire in capital of Minnesotas Case In her short tommyrot capital of Minnesotas Case, Willa Cather tells the tale of a young boys struggle to separate himself from his common, everyday digestliness and the people he shared it with. Paul admired the opulence of the theater, the wardrobe, the perfumes, the lights, the colors, the flowers, and the champagne. When he realized it wasnt possible to have these things, he threw his life away. Cathers purpose was to enter that, by focusing on what he didnt have, Paul could non live at all.Many clues were bringn that Paul dreamed of leaving town. For instance, he was exhilarated by the Venetian scenes and streets of Paris depicted in the experience gallery. He loved to listen to his father speak of palaces in Venice, yachts on the Mediterranean, and high play at Monte Carlo (202). Also, when no one pay attention to his stories, Paul announced to his classmates that he would be leaving to perish for a while. These acts foreshadow Pauls fleeing to New York. The fact that he actually steal money to take this trip shows how intensely desperate he was to leave. By constantly fantasizing rough be somewhere he wasnt, Paul could not possibly live where he was.Throughout the story, flowers are used to symbolise Pauls situation. The red carnation he wears to the meeting with his teachers is viewed by them as frivolous and scandalous (195-196). This also suggests his attitude towards the gathering. Paul was very nonchalant about the entire thing. His clothes may have been a bit teensy and tattered, only by wearing that flower, Paul had no trouble attribute his head up. He had always acted as if he were on a higher level than his teachers, and he felt it necessary to humiliate them and give them no s... ... of Adriatic water and the yellow of Algerian sands (213). These are some(prenominal) natural images, both beautiful, and neither contain artificial elements. This is significan t in that Paul spent his life focusing on the beauty of artificiality, but when I feel this sense of regret in Paul, this epiphany, it is too late.Paul stated a few times throughout the story that being in the atmosphere of luxury was the only thing that could be called vivification at all (198). He speaks of these times as orgies of living, so I would imagine when he realized he could not afford that life, he felt that he could not live at all (200). Paul s unhealthy desire for a life of luxury drove him to retrieve that his ordinary life was not worthy of existence.Work CitedCather, Willa. Pauls Case. Literature A Pocket Anthology. Ed. R.S. Gwynn. New York Addison-Wesley, 2002. 194-213.