In the short story “Paul’s Case” we are first introduced to Paul in the school principal’s office, and we see him, not through the eyes of his peers, but through the eyes of his teachers. Paul is, in his teacher’s opinion, a little odd. On what is supposed to be sort of a begging mission a week after his suspension, his appearance is a little ostentatious, with “something of the dandy about him”; he wore a carnation in his lapel and an oval stud in his tie, and had “hysterical brilliant” blue eyes, which infuriated his teachers. Paul presented himself in this manner due to his fear of being watched. Because of this fear, Paul was forever on edge and wearing a frozen smile with “…something sort of haunted about it…” that antagonized his teachers almost as much
as his attitude. Paul tried to set himself above others, condescending to all whom he met, he possessed “…the itch to let his instructors know how heartily he despised them, and how thoroughly he was appreciated elsewhere…” He wanted people to perceive him as someone different, someone of importance. Paul would not allow his fellow classmates to think that he “took these people seriously,” so he repeatedly tells them “the most incredible stories,” like how he is “going to Naples, to California, to Egypt.” But Paul seems to be burdened by a greater unnamed but ever-present fear, the fear of falling into a middle-class life of obscurity and anonymity. In no way does Paul find contentment in the realm of his existence. Upon returning from work, Paul describes his “ho
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