Short Story Paul's Case Conflict

One could say that without conflict there is no plot, as there is nothing to overcome. Internal conflict develops when the protagonist’s mind prevents them from reaching their goal, forcing them to overcome their battle. The protagonist, Paul, faces a constant battle against himself, making man versus self the most prominent conflict in the short story, “Paul’s Case,” by Willa Cather. Paul suffers from an inability to cope with reality and the negative emotions he feels, thus creating a continuous man versus self conflict throughout the short story and prompting his self-destruction.

The protagonist in the short story, “Paul’s Case” suffers from a man versus self conflict as he lives in a fantasy world created by his imagination. Thus ultimately

Throughout the short story Paul never feels as though he is truly living since it is, “at the theater at Carnegie Hall that Paul really [lives]; the rest [is] but a sleep and forgetting” (Cather 218). Paul constantly uses the theatricality of Carnegie Hall to escape the seemingly invidious reality in which he finds himself. However, Paul is captivated by the art found at Carnegie Hall to such an extent that it prevents him from accepting a reality without all its luxury. Paul struggles with separating his fantasy from reality as seen when he follows the singer to her hotel. “In the moment that the door was ajar it [seems] to Paul that he, too, [enters]... and Paul [is] startled to find that he [is] still outside” (215). Paul’s reluctance to cope with his own reality causes him to disassociate from the world around him, thus becoming absorbed in the figment of his

Thus creating an on going man versus self conflict through the short short, “Paul’s Case.” Although Paul’s emotions are often very pessimistic, his outward facial expression tends to reflect a more optimistic attitude. One day when Paul fell asleep during art class his teacher noticed that, “one [sees] only his white teeth and the forced animation of his eyes... lips twitching even in his sleep, and still with a nervous tension that drew them back from his teeth” (213). Paul uses his perpetual smile to suppress his current emotional state in an attempt to prevent himself from experiencing any negative emotions. Along with his perpetual smile, Paul uses the symphony to suppress any unpleasant emotion, however, “It was not that symphonies, as such, [mean] anything in particular to Paul, but the first sigh of the instruments [seems] to free some hilarious and potent spirit within him” (214). True emotion will always remain close to the surface as it cannot simply disappear, therefore, in reality Paul is using the sound of the instruments to distract himself from their everlasting existence. It is a lot easier to suppress and ignore negative emotion than experience them. In addition, as Paul snuck into his house, he imagined what would happen if his father were to wake up, “suppose his father [comes] down, pistol in hand,