Pauls Case The Movie Vs. Pauls Case The Short Story by Willa Cather Sometimes in movie production a film is developed from a piece of literature. Directors will use the plot of a book either to create a unique movie, or to give the audience a chance to see what their favorite book is like when acted out on the screen. Willa Cather's "Paul's Case" is a good example of a work adapted to video. The movie has slight differences from the book, but the director Lamont Johnson follows the original closely. Most movies that are inspired by books hold some relation to the author's version, but are changed to fit the director's vision and perhaps make the movie more presentable. "Paul's Case" the movie, beginning to the end, is basically the …show more content…
The movie, on the other hand, casts Eric Roberts who does not fit this description at all. He is tall, good-looking, and his well-developed body is inconsistent with Cather's Paul. His age does not even to appear to be appropriate, because he is supposed to be a boy the age of seventeen. Roberts looks to be more in his twenties. These discrepancies will confuse the watcher of the movie. If he did not read the text, he will not know what kind of person Paul is supposed to be according to Cather. Symbolism is widely used to intellectually stimulate the reader or viewer. For example, flowers were symbolized in both versions. The flower he wears in his lapel looks to not belong there based on his personality and the clothes that he wears. Just as the flower should not belong there Paul feels that he does not belong in his life. However, sounds were also symbols in the movie. In the beginning of the movie, the viewer finds Paul waiting to meet with his professors, and a ticking clock heard over everything else. This illustrates the passing of time, or even that his time is going to be running to an end. At the firm, an adding machine, and this is telling the audience that money will be coming into play, and the train whistle at the end tells the viewer that he is thinking of his death or a way out. The director uses these to create a mood or as foreshadowing. There are small altercations that the screenplay that the
Today I will be discussing the prevalent theme in the novel of Paul's journey to reach maturity, the importance other characters whom he interacts with played in the development of his character and
Very protected. White servants… I don’t even feel black” (30). Paul is embarrassed to admit to his true race and states that he was raised as a white and doesn’t know what it is to be black. He rejects the fact that he is an American black man and can only dream and tell lies of being born into a Sidney’s family. Paul is then asked to talk about his father, he says “My father, being an actor, has no real identity…Out on the forest, back to the church… And my father is in tears and I say pop, this is not a real event, this is some script that was sent to you. And my father says I’m trying it out to see how it fits on me. But he has no life—he has no memory—only the scripts producers send him in the mail through his agents. That’s his past” (30). Paul talks about his imaginary father as if he is describing himself as an actor with no real identity, who is a lifeless being with no memory and only the personas he has created for himself. Paul who creates multiple personas to satisfy himself to become part of the upper class society, he goes to extreme extents to lie his way up.
There are small altercations that the screenplay that the director makes in the plot. In New York, Paul meets a student in the hotel. In the text, he meets him in the evening or at nighttime. The movie shows this taking place during the day. This, however, is a minor detail and did not effect the running of the story. In Cather's version, the reader is presented with two sisters of Paul's. These are hardly mentioned in the movie. The book also illustrates Paul pushing his teacher while in the movie he is more aggressive. The movie also has an over voicing of Paul's father as he is sneaking back into his
Paul also openly criticizes conformity frequently throughout the story. Paul’s criticisms can be seen in his detailed observations of people and their routines. However, none of these criticisms compare to Paul’s hate for his home on Cordelia Street. Cather describes Cordeila Street, noting that all the houses are identical, as well as its inhabitants. Following the description of the street, Cather describes Paul’s hatred for his mediocrity plagued home is expressed: “Paul never went up Cordelia Street without a shudder of loathing… he approached it to-night with the nerveless sense of defeat, the hopeless feeling of sinking back forever into ugliness and commonness that he had always had when he came home”(Pg. 5). Later on in the story, while Paul is in New York and is contemplating his fear of being reprimanded for his actions, he constantly reminds himself of the painful existence that awaits him on Cordelia Street: “It was to be worse than jail, even; the tepid waters of Cordelia Street were to close over him finally and forever. The grey monotony stretched before him in hopeless, unrelieved years”(Pg. 13). Cather seems to use Cordiela street as a all-encompassing metaphor for conformist society; and Paul’s individuality and hate for Cordiela Street serves as the contrasting element, in turn becoming the most
The choices that Erik made throughout his life never came without consequences, many of his choices, whether they were choices directed to him or not, affected Paul. Paul illustrates this idea by saying, “When we moved to Houston, when Erik was eleven, he realized that football was the star attraction,”(Bloor 29) This is talking about the “birth” of the “Erik Fisher Football Dream”; Erik use to play soccer and was successful at it, but he realized that football was the place to be if he wanted attention. Paul could’ve started playing soccer at that time as well and Erik didn’t want to risk being outshined by his younger brother. Another way Erik affected Paul, in a more indirect way, was when Arthur becomes Erik’s crony, “What will Arthur do
"Paul's Case", by Cather, is a story in which Paul, an adolescent, is trying to find himself. Unlike Hemingway, Cather exposes the influence of a stable but cold environment to be detrimental to one's well being. Paul's dilemma begins with school, a place he is not fond of. His teachers have a strong disliking of Paul. This is seen at his readmittance inquiry "… they fell upon him without mercy, his English teacher leading the pack" (161). Paul's inner struggle is recognized by only one teacher, the drawing master. "The drawing master had come to realize that, in looking at Paul, one saw only his white teeth and forced animation of his eyes" (162). He also noted the time Paul had fallen asleep in class, "what a white, blue veined face it was; drawn and wrinkled like an old man's about the eyes, lips twitching even in his sleep" (162). This observation clues us that Paul is not a happy-go-lucky teenager; there is an inner battle going on.
Paul's Case is about a young, Calvinist man who did not feel that he belonged in his life. He lived on Cordelia Street in Pittsburgh, PA. Cordelia Street was littered with cookie cutter houses, suburbanite-like city-dwellers, and a general aura of despair. Paul's room was no different. Paul felt that his abusive father, uncaring teachers, and classmates who misunderstand him aren't worthy of his presence and company. One of the reasons Paul may not have fit in was because there is a chance that he was learning disabled.
Willa Cather's "Paul's Case," displays the conflict between conformity and individuality through the main character, Paul. On a number of occasions, Paul is forced to lie and steal to escape the conformists who wish to control him and stifle his unique imagination. However, his lying, stealing, and attempts to escape the conformists, only force Paul into isolation, depression, and feeling a sense of shame for his individuality. Throughout the story one might see Cather's constant contrast of individuality versus conformity, as well as Paul's lying and stealing. Cather seems to draw the conclusion that extreme individuals, much like Paul are simply misunderstood, and not offered the acceptance they desire
Paul was a self-oriented boy, concerned with money, wealth, and glamour, raised in a Calvinist household that supported these ideals. Through my research I have decided that Paul's eventual fate was not any one person's fault. Paul was just as much to blame as his father and teachers for Paul's suicide.
A lifelong dream of Paul occurs when he makes the trip to New York City. The trip to New York City gives Paul the opportunity to live the life he always dreamed of. After being forced to leave his job as an usher at Carnegie Hall Paul gets a job working at Denny and Carson’s office firm. He gets the money to go to New York City by taking the money
The movie of the story stays with the major plot lines but leaves out several important mild details. For example, in the novel Sodapop Curtis doesn’t have blond hair with movie star aspects, Sodapop has dark hair and brown eyes. Although in the movie it shows a brief scene of Johnny’s parents arguing, it doesn’t go into
Every person has something that is important in all stages of life. Whether that be a family member, idea, or thing. For three men in A River Runs Through It by Robert Redford that “thing” is a river. Norman Maclean, Paul Maclean, and Reverend Maclean are the three main men in the movie. Individually, they seek different things from a river throughout the movie.
The protagonist in Willa Cather's short story, "Paul's Case," is adolescent named Paul. Paul's problem is that he has trouble following rules. Paul has a problem with various kinds of authorities including his teachers, principal, and father. From Paul's perspective, his problem is society. Society does not conform to him and repeatedly makes attempts on him to conform to it. Paul is disgusted, repulsed, and bored by middle class life in Pittsburgh. Paul's real problem is that he lacks perspective. This is a young man that is ferociously hungry for life outside of a small town or small city, which is partially the reason why he steals $1,000 and flees to New York City. Paul does not have an appropriate outlet through which to explore and channel his exuberant and odd energy. It is only when he is committing suicide by throwing himself in front of an oncoming train that he is capable of imagining a life both outside of the life he left behind, but not so far outside in the margins of society that cannot be a contributing member of society. Paul craves new experiences that expand his horizons and challenge him in ways unknown to him in his life back in Pittsburgh. His lack of perspective keeps him from being available to the myriad of choices he has in life but does not yet see. Ironically, it is only when his life is about to conclude when he realizes how much he wants to live and do. These feelings are often expressed by people who have
Siddhanth Jung ENG251G2 Dr. V. Hromulak 10 December 2015 The Adaption of Double Indemnity Although adaptions are not a new form of entertainment, recent trends show that the many books that are forced to change to film tend to provoke criticism and debate. This type of attitude was definitely prevccalent in the film Double Indemnity directed by Billy Wilder.
“The symbolic scenes are extremely literal and the symbols seem to function as integral strands in the webs of emotional tensions.”