Character Of Catherine In David Auburn's Proof

Everyone must have, at some point, met someone whose capabilities they under- or overestimated. In “Proof”, David Auburn presents a main character, Catherine, whose basic abilities to take care of herself is sometimes questioned by the reader. Other characters in the story also challenge her decision to live by herself, but she and another main character maintain that she is perfectly capable of taking care of herself. Although Catherine exhibits some disturbing behaviors, she should not be considered to be completely incapable. Signs that she has great abilities include that she can take care of others beside herself, that she is mathematically achieved, and that she is a spiritually strong person.

Catherine shows that she can take care of herself mainly in that she has been taking care of others. For over four years, she has been taking care of her father. Although many people take care of their parents, Catherine was not faced with a simple task of merely doing chores and managing the house. Her father, Robert, has hypergraphia. Symptoms include a compulsion to write incessantly and sometimes belief in nonexistent
Her father, Robert, is the only one that recognizes her talent. He say in their imagined conversation, “Even your depression is mathematical. Stop moping and get to work. The kind of potential you have–” While caring for her father, Catherine also completed an important proof, which Hal, another mathematician, can barely begin to understand. In fact, it is so advanced that at first Hal doesn’t believe that Catherine had written it. Hal says, “I know how hard it would be to come up with something like this. I mean it’s impossible. You’d have to be… you’d have to be your dad, basically. Your dad at the peak of his powers.” Anyone who is able to construct a proof that advanced must have more than the mental capacity to take care of