Paul thought he was important and should be admired like the people on stage in the place he worked. The irony is that he worked for those kind of people (the rich, privileged, haughty, admired) . He was a servant who seated them; he was not one of them. Paul thought that because he was allowed into the theater with them, since they were in the same place, that they were equal. However, in reality the guests and Paul were admitted to the theater under different circumstances: Paul's being one of servitude while the guests were those served by Paul. "It was very much as though these were a great reception and Paul was the host"(70). Paul has many misconceptions about himself and his place in society. "Paul was always smiling, always glancing about him, seeming to feel that people might be watching him and trying to detect something"(68). In this instance, Paul felt that he was so important, so admired by those around him, that he thought everyone to be looking at him, as if everything he did was noteworthy, which represents Paul's inaccurate self-perception.
It is why Rob Saari feels that Paul is suffering from narcissistic personality disorder. He thinks that he is better than everyone else. "He had never lied for pleasure, even at school; but to be noticed and admired, to assert his difference from other Cordelia Street boys"(79). Paul's need for beauty and the good life leads him to attempt to portray something that he is not, attractive and sophisticated. "He spent more than an hour in dressing, watching every stage of his toilet carefully in the mirror. Everything was quite perfect; he was exactly the kind of boy he had always wanted to be" (77). To Paul, the ultimate place in life is to be apart of the upper class. Paul had to be dishonest to convey a certain image so that he would be accepted as part of the upper class. Paul wonders how there can be anyone in the world that is dishonest because everyone should be striving to be a part of the upper class.
