SOURCE: Saari, Rob. “‘Paul's Case’: A Narcissistic Personality Disorder, 301.81.” Studies in Short Fiction 34, no. 3 (summer 1997): 389–95.

In the following essay, Saari presents a psychoanalytic interpretation of “Paul's Case.”

Willa Cather's title “Paul's Case” (1905) invites us to ponder the question, “What exactly is Paul's Case?” Cather immediately informs us that Paul's case is mysterious. His own father is “perplexed” about his son's behavior, and the school faculty, who meet with Paul to discuss his recent suspension, speak of Paul with such “rancor” and “aggrievedness” that it is obvious that Paul's is “not a usual case” (221). At first, it appears that Paul is, perhaps, simply filled with the arrogance that adolescence sometimes brings, but, as Cather continues with Paul's case history, we learn that his problem is more deeply rooted. Paul's problem drives him to take his own life, and simple adolescent arrogance does not lead to such drastic measures. My...