Paul's Case story
"Paul's Case" is the eleventh installment of The American Short Story television anthology series produced by Learning in Focus and Sea Cliff Productions for the Public Broadcasting Service. This installment is based on the 1905 Willa Cather short story of the same name. Synopsis: A young admirer of the arts struggles to fit in at home and in school.
22 total · 9 major · 13 minor
| Theme | Level | Motivation |
|---|---|---|
| disapproving parent | major | Instead of cultivating Paul's interest in the arts, his practical-minded father emphasized the need for Paul to take his studies seriously and get a real job. |
| father and son | major | Paul was consistently pressured and harangued by his father. Here are some examples of their various interactions: 1) Avoiding his father's disapproval late at night, Paul hid in the basement and fantasized the possibility of being mistaken for an intruder and shot by his father. 2) Paul happily recounted taking his father's advice to get a discount at the butcher's. 3) Paul was disappointed that his father didn't want any of the rhubarb pie he made for him. 4) Paul's father chided him for not saving the money he earned as an usher. 5) Paul's father forbade him from visiting the theater, even going to the lengths of talking to the theater company and having him fired. |
| human aspiration | major | Paul aspired to become something of a dandy who moved in artistic circles, but working class circumstances prevented this from coming to fruition. |
| social awkwardness | major | Paul was generally reticent, aloof, and by his own admission had a habit of saying things without regard to people's feelings. He also lacked the ability to read the room was as evidenced by him earnestly showing pictures of actors and theaters to people who were clearly uninterested in them. |
| suicide | major | The story culminated with Paul killing himself by jumping in front of a train. In addition, Paul briefly contemplated shooting himself after his father showed up at the hotel. |
| the fine arts and the humanities | major | Paul was swept up in the atmosphere of the arts, be it sculpture, painting, the theater or the opera. It his words, he wanted to be there "in the atmosphere of it, be caught up by it, float on the wave of it". |
| the need to belong | major | The socially inept admirer of the arts Paul didn't fit in at all in his working class community, only feeling at home in the company of actors and theater-lovers. |
| the power of art to influence people | major | Paul was singularly captivated by art to the point that he had a great deal of difficulty paying attention to anything else. |
| what it is like to be different | major | The socially awkward admirer of the arts Paul was like a fish out of water in the company of his practical-minded father and the philistines comprising his community. |
| acting | minor | Paul told his actor friend Charlie that Charlie had preformed brilliantly in the play. A rather conceited Charlie concurred. |