Luxury in Paul’s Case: A Study in Temperament Essay Example

Who wouldn’t want to live a life of luxury? With riches on riches, one may coast above the monotony of normal life, every whim satisfied. However, while such a life is ideal, it is no more than a fantasy for most. Paul from Willa Cather’s “Paul’s Case: A Study in Temperament”is a troubled boy disgusted with middle class society, instead existing in a deluded fantasy world of luxury. Ultimately, his rejection of normality and his delusions of grandeur led to his death.

Normality disgusts Paul; he believes that he is above it. This is evidenced first by Paul’s rancorous behavior in school as he attempts to assert his superiority. After returning to school, the narrator notes how Paul despises the normality of it, especially in contrast to the opulence of the concert hall. Believing he is above this normality, Paul misbehaves to demonstrate to his peers that, “...he considered [school] all trivial, and was there only by way of a jest, anyway…”. Paul’s blatant misbehavior in school to prove its trivial nature speaks of his disgust with normality. Further evidence of this is found in Paul’s description of Cordelia Street on his way home from ushering. Paul describes the street with an air of dread, lamenting about “...sinking back forever into ugliness and commonness…” and “...[Paul’s] shuddering repulsion for the flavorless, colorless mass of everyday existence…”. Through Willa’s use of strong words and phrases such as “forever” and “shuddering repulsion”, the author communicates to the reader how strongly Paul detests “commonness” and “everyday existence”. Through this, the reader sees that Paul believes he is above Cordelia street and the middle class normality it presents. 

However, Paul expresses not only an aversion to normality, but he is obsessed with luxury to the point of delusion: places of spendor are the only places Paul feels he belongs. This is exhibited first in the author’s descriptions of his clothes. When the reader is first introduced to Paul, his clothes are described as ill-fitting, frayed, and worn. In describing Paul in this way, Willa characterizes him as out of place and poor. By contrast, Willa later describes Paul’s ushering uniform as “...one of the few [uniforms] that at all approached fitting, and Paul thought it very becoming...”, noting that “[Paul] was always considerably excited while he dressed…”. By contrasting the shabbiness of his appearance in school with his debonair appearance at the theater, Willa shows how Paul feels more comfortable in luxury. However, the departure from a comfort in luxury to delusional obsession is marked by Paul’s choice to run away to New York. Banned from the theater after being expelled, Paul chooses to steal from his job rather than live without luxury. There, Paul feels as though, “....these [wealthy individuals] were his own people.”. However, despite Paul’s sense of belonging, they were not his own people. Paul’s complete relaxation in New York marks the severity of both his obsession and of his delusions of grandeur; Paul did not belong there rightfully so, he was there only on stolen funds. 

Ultimately, Paul’s decision to reject normality and refusal to let go of his delusions resulted in his death. After being expelled both from school and theater due to misbehavior, Paul could have chosen to turn his life around. His father gave him a job, all he had to do was fade into monotonous middle class life. But, Paul was not willing to let go of luxury. Instead, he ran away to New York. When the money ran dry, Paul was again faced with a choice: should he return to normality and abandon his delusions, or die? It was then Paul made the fatal choice, unwilling again to let go of his dreams of opulence. That is why he died. If he had been willing to give up on luxury, if he simply faded into the normality he loathed, Paul would have lived. But, Paul’s decision to reject normality and refusal to let go of his delusions ultimately resulted in his death.

In conclusion, Paul was a troubled boy disgusted with normality and obsessed with luxury to the point of delusion. While an envy of opulence is natural, Paul’s complete disgust with normality and his delusions of grandeur led to his death.