Aspects Of Naturalism In 'Paul's Case' By Willa Cather

One of the most well-known works of literature without a doubt is Willa Cather’s “Paul’s Case.” The story is famous because of the richness of writing that Cather employs in making a formidable story one that can help people understand the current times and the world in which we live in especially regarding naturalism and regionalism. This is an interesting story with twists and turns about a young Calvinist man, whom because of circumstances of life felt he does not belong to this life. Paul’s life is filled by people who push him to the limits and make him feel unwanted, among these are; his abusive father, the uncaring teachers and also his classmates that have greatly misunderstood him (Cather and Schlenk 19). It would be justified to say that this is a classic case study on temperaments. There is more to this story than just the interesting story of Paul and the drama that is his life. This critical analysis aims at uncovering some of the aspects of this piece of literature such as the style of writing, the genre, the narrator’s point of view, the

Paul’s Case, as alluded to earlier is a story about a certain young man who is a Calvinist and he is clouded by feelings of not belonging to this life. According to the story he lived on a street named Cordelia located in Pittsburgh, and we are given an impression of a street cluttered with cookie cutter houses and city dwellers that seemed like suburbanites. According to the author, there was an aura of despair in that city. This same aura extended even to Paul’s own room. His life was a life of misery having been surrounded by a father that abused him, teachers that never cared and classmate that misunderstood him and this caused Paul to feel he is not worth to be in their presence or even company. Therefore, the plot is based on the life and times of this character named Paul (Arnold