When Dreams Come True

When Dreams Come True

Few people, even in today’s world, are truly open-minded to the differences of others. They decide at an early age what, they believe, is the right way to live. But what happens when a truly unique boy is brought up in an environment where he is forced to believe he only has one option in life? “Paul’s Case” by Willa Cather is a short story beautifully illustrating a young boy fighting to hold on to his identity in a town where his dreams are looked down upon and criticized. His struggle is displayed through characterization, setting, and symbolism.

Characterization sets the stage for the beginning of Paul’s fatal battle. Paul is described as being different from what most consider a normal boy. A stereotypical boy likes to roll in the mud, ride bicycles, play with toy soldiers, and even participate in rough sports. Paul was quite the opposite. He had a deep appreciation of the fine arts, which is incredibly rare among adolescents. Before work, he went to visit the art gallery. He was not ashamed to go yet “was delighted to find no one in the gallery but the old guard (491).” An empty art gallery was his pass to enjoy and absorb the art with no distractions.

The majority of school age children dread work and would much rather spend their time doing something of choice. Again, Paul challenged the norm. His job at Carnegie Hall was his only true joy and he looked forward to going as much as possible. Previously seen by teachers and the town’s elders as disrespectful and even “haunted (491),” at work “he was a model usher (492)” and “all the people in his section thought him a charming boy, feeling that he remembered and admired them (492).” Work was where he was free to allow his true self surface without ridicule and therefore led to a complete change in attitude. The atmosphere of the Hall alone was enough to bring color “to his cheeks and lips (492).” The music he dearly respected “seemed to free some hilarious and potent spirit within him (492)” so much that he had trouble letting it go even for a moment. It was “impossible to give up this delicious excitement which was the only thing that could be called living at all (492).” He took the only thing he loved in life and turned it into his personal reality. Paul’s fatal flaw was living in such a fantasy that when actuality hit, it killed him.

Setting plays the most important role in this short story. Pittsburg, Paul’s hometown, was filled with steel plants and workers. Men were expected to be tough and, after the required amount of school, go work in the steel industry. Steel was the heart of the town and every man who supported it was highly respected. This is illustrated by a friend of Paul’s father who “was clerk to one of the magnates of a great steel corporation, and was looked upon in Cordelia Street as a young man with a future (495).” That fate is what was expected of all boys in Pittsburg. It even goes as far as to say that “he happened to be the young man who was daily held up to Paul as a model, and after whom it was his fathers dearest hope that he would pattern (495)”. But Paul’s