Paul's Case: The Struggle Is Real

Jason T. Smith
Professor Batya Weinbaum
LITR221
January 3, 2016
The Struggle Is Real It is very important to know your own personal limitations, likewise, it is important to know how your personal decisions can and will affect you and others around you. In the story, “Paul’s Case” Paul was dealing with a real struggle in life, his internal happiness or the happiness of those that surrounded him. Paul was about making himself happy; he was about doing what made him feel superior, and how he could advance himself well beyond where he should have been in life. Throughout his educational experience Paul had little respect for his educators and that was very obvious to all who knew him. “I don’t really believe that smile of his comes altogether
Throughout this story it is apparent Paul does not wish to slowly progress into perfection instead, Paul wants to experience instant gratification and while doing so Paul wants to move his way to the top and remain at the top. One down fall for Paul is that his method of personal achievement is attempted by being deceitful, telling lies to everyone that surrounds him including his teachers, his elders, and his father. Paul had the struggle of being successful yet, because of his hast, Paul was about to fail. In doing so, “he stood watching the approaching locomotive, his teeth chattering, his lips drawn away from them in a frightened smile; once or twice he glanced nervously sidewise, as though he were being watched.” (65). Paul appeared to think this was a time when he would be remember, that he would finally achieve what he was looking for, stardom, people would remember him and Paul ended his own life.
Both Nick and Prufrock appear to have struggles in their life. Nick is struggling with returning from the war, not being sure of where he belonged and how he was going to continue to move forward from the suffrage that he experienced. Nick decided that he needed solitude, a time to
(1) I believe that Hemmingway is most representative of the Modern Man viewpoint. In “Big-Two Hearted River”, Nick displays his desire to be alone. I believe that many people, including some today, feel as if one person needs to be with another in order to be happy. Society today dictates how others live, we all know this but, this dates back beyond today’s beliefs. Trask wrote, “Men’s desires are not something barbaric which the intellect must shun. Their desires are what make their lives, they are what move and govern” (17). Being alone is acceptable and I believe that many have an issue with this. Modern Society says that people most grow, flourish and procreate however, not everyone is destined for that. Nick was content being alone, his struggle was not of that, his struggle was how he would move forward with his life, how he would deal with the aftermath of the war. Prufrock statement of “I grow old, I grow old…” shows that he is going to continue to live in the past, not move forward, spending his time alone. Again, society frowned on this because it was out of the norm, everyone was expected to be with someone, Prufrock and Nick thought