The Story Paul’s Case by Willa Cather and the Story a Rose for Emily by William Faulkner

The story Paul’s Case by Willa Cather and the story A Rose for Emily by William Faulkner most certainly have themes that are shared between the two. One of the themes that stood out to me the most was that Paul was not for conformity and did not have a nonchalant attitude about life. Paul hopes of having the life of a dandy that he obsessed over it. This pushes Paul to do anything necessary to achieve his goal. Emily is surrounded by a life of control and indulgence, as odd as Emily is she is supported by her entire town. Emily killed her father and Homer, after which she kept their bodies. The behaviors that she was experiencing was magnified loneliness and desperation of companionship. Emily idolized and idealized both men to the point of death. This context, resembles the iron-gray hair inadvertently left by Emily beside those she loved and killed. In some way we can find that the both were natural misfits. In both of these story the main characters end up dead. Both characters lovers of art and love seeking for acceptance.

Paul is a person of a high standing that believes that life should be able the attention and not so much being famous. This lead to a supercilious attitude to people who are not of the same or higher standing than he.(202)”How heartily he despised them and their homilies”(202). His elitism can be viewed as his own individuality to be seen as different, because he is constantly trying to prove himself better than those around him. Being very rebellious Paul was not willing to compromise to what his family and society expected him to do, instead he chooses to do what he feels. He always considered “full of Sabbath-school picnics, petty economies…. and inescapable odors of cooking” (201). Paul’s rebellion may have been because of the conflict with the authority of his father. His father wanted his to have a normal job but Paul wanted to live a life in luxury. At every point of control that his father attempted Paul did something