A Boy who couldn't face reality in Willa Cather's

We first see Paul going back to school a reality that he doesn't want to be part of. Paul comes into the school "suave and smiling". But his clothes tell a different story.

"His clothes were trifle outgrown and the tan velvet on the collar of his open overcoat was frayed and worn"(406).

The fact that Paul lies a lot is a way for him to escape a reality that he does not want to be a part of. Paul's involvement at Carnegie Hall is where he plays out his fantasizing. His shining hour is when he changes into his usher's uniform. The story tells us that Paul was "always excited while he dressed" and telling the other boys "he was crazy . . . being a model usher . . . all the people in his section thought if him as a charming boy"(409). But at school his teachers got mad at him. If for just a moment he stopped and thought about how school could help him with his future and the hopes he has for it. All he thought about was himself and the present.

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He even "doubted the reality of his past. He was banned from everything he enjoyed.

Paul must have been mad, frustrated, and unclear about what to do. He was now living the high life which he was planning for so long. Therefore, when the money and time ran out, Paul's life force died as well. The city was like his experience at the symphony which he loved so much. When Paul got hit by the train, his whole life flashed before him. The moment he inhaled the gassy, painty, dusty odors behind the scenes, he breathed like a prisoner set free and felt within him the possibility of doing or saying splendid, brilliant, polite things. It was like belladonna or a drug to him a way to get away from everyday life and it acted as a stress reliever. This is the only way he could come close to his dreams, so he thought. The moment the cracked orchestra flat out the overture from Martha, or jerked at the serenade from Rigoletto, all were stupid from him, and his senses were deliciously, yet delicately fined"(413). He told his teachers "he had no time to fool with theorems"(414). Telling them things he was going to do but in actuality he could only dream of those things. So don't follow this example of foolishness or you too, will go to hell!

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Common topics in this essay:
Cordelia Street418, Carnegie Hall, Hall Paul, City Paul, Willa Cather's, carnegie hall, lied stole money, school teachers, stole money, fairy tale, father paul, lied stole,

Approximate Word count = 1039
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

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