The Homosexual Motif In Paul's Case

“Paul’s Case” written by Willa Cather not only offers an entertaining read with content which at first glance can come off as merely a story, but when read closely it becomes evident that there are substantial themes being explored through Cather’s protagonist, Paul, along with his predicament. Paul, a young boy living on Cordelia Street, a place that quite inordinately contradicts his frequent exotic fantasies, sets course toward tragedy when he begins to realize he can no longer remain within the rigid dimensions set by his community’s perception of social norms. Set in a Pittsburg town made up of cookie cutter homes, and where the children attend Sabbath school on a regular basis, Paul stands out with great conspicuity. One cannot help but
Not only does Rubin’s piece on “Paul’s Case” offers resources to reinforce Ander’s argument regarding Paul’s homosexuality, but Rubin also suggests that “homosexuality does more in ‘Paul’s Case’ than describe its protagonist’s nature” (Anders 54). What are Cather’s reasons for writing in Paul’s potential homosexuality? Rubin offers insight in The Homosexual Motif in Willa Cather’s “Paul’s Case.” Cather illustrates “the tragic consequences of the conflict between a sensitive and hence alienated temperament, on the one hand, and a narrowly ‘moral,’ bourgeois environment, on the other” (Rubin 131). He then mentions how it is essential for one to understand and be fully aware of Paul’s homosexuality in order to better understand his “alienation from the ‘normal’ American society in which he feels trapped and hence the full pathos of his situation” (131). According to these critics, one in fact cannot read “Paul’s Case” without keeping Paul’s sexual orientation in mind. But furthermore Cather seems to have planned her subtlety intently and purposefully to emphasize Paul’s suppressed anger and hostility which essentially says a whole lot about alienating those who are not considered of the social norm at a much larger scope. Cather