Many reports and analysis state that Paul is suffering from Narcissism. Although the story was written in 1904 and that particular personnality disorder was only diagnosed in 1977, Cather's character embodies many of the symptoms listed by the doctors, such as: "highly developped sense of self importance, preoccupation with fantasies of success, belief that he is special, feeling he has the envy of peers, and arrogant behavior." (Benis, 303) But the main display of Paul's illness is his over-developped sense of self-importance; the way he feels that he is worth much more than the environment of Cordelia Street. A good example of that is when he comes back to his home after a concert, he feels a "loathing of respectable beds, of common food;

Paul's suicide is not entirely his fault. Although he chooses to cut himself out of the world, the world didn't cut back on him. The kids at school and at his job tease and insult him, his professors complain about him and his father tries to keep him "under his thumb". Even if Paul dismisses these actions because of his narcissic tendency to be unconcerned with his peers opinions (the fact that they are rapidly glanced over in the text shows how little importance he accords them), the truth is that they are still happening and his subconscious records that. Another thing that could be link to his suicide is his mother's death. That event is stated twice in the story, but we never get details. In popular beliefs, a red carnation, when worn on Mother's Day, honors your live mother, while a deceased mother is remembered with a white carnation. Throughout the story, Paul wears a red carnation to symbolize that his mom his alive in his minds and in his heart, but at the end, he buries that flower under a white blanket of snow, finally making peace with her death. But the main event that motivates Paul to kill himself is when he finds out that his theft has been discovered and his father is on his way to bring him back to Pittsburgh. He has spent the last week living the life he thinks he was meant for, and his

Some topics in this essay:
York City, Willa Cather's, Cordelia Street, Mother's Day, Edwards English, Willa Cather, , Miss Cather, emotional factors, personality disorder, plus emotional factors, narcissic personality disorder, illness plus emotional, plus emotional, illness plus, suffering narcissic, disorder illness, disorder illness plus, paul's suicide, personality disorder illness, paul suffering, narcissic personality, cordelia street,