“Paul’s Case” by Willa Cather Willa Cather was born near Winchester, Virginia in 1873. At age ten,she moved with her family to Nebraska where most of her stories were set. In1913, she began an extensive writing career which included many shortstories and several novels. In her stories, she depicted the lives of prairiefarmers on the great plains. She glorified them over the city dwellers. In1922, she won the Pulitzer Prize for her novel One of Ours. She left behind aheritage for the people she represented, and a living history of a period andplace in time.This short story, “Paul’s Case”, was written around 1905 when WillaCather was living in Pittsburgh; it is the only one of her stories with that cityas a background. During her time there she taught in a high school and shesaid the story was based on experience with two boys in her classes. It alsohas connections to her own background of growing up in a small town inNebraska where she hungered for a broader life experience.In “Paul’s Case”, by Willa Cather, Paul displays selfishness,impatience, and, in the end, cowardice to live his life the way he sees asideal. Paul, a sensitive high school student, shows his selfish manner in orderto gain what he believes is a higher goal. Paul’s father tries to display trust inPaul by taking him from Carnegie Hall and the theater guild and placing himin an occupation where he will someday be able to prosper. Paul does not seein a light which would make him proud to accept his father's trust. In theopposite, he thinks his father is taking him away from what he loves for purespite. Paul had no concern for his father's feelings or reputation when he tookthe money from his employer. This fact is amply displayed when the narratorshows the feelings of Paul, by saying, "From the time he slipped the banknotes into his pocket until he boarded the night train for New York, he hadnot known a mome...
