The Position of Women in "Paul's Case"

"Paul's Case," by Willa Cather is an engaging story of a disturbed mind. When read from a Feminist perspective, it is also riddled with symbols of the inequalities between men and women. This story exemplifies "how women have been led to imagine themselves and their lives". It is often implied that Paul is so troubled because he has no mother. The story takes for granted that women deserve to be treated with a greater gentleness and courtesy than men. Within the story, females are appreciated only when they are serving men in some shallow capacity. When women are in a position of authority or truly useful, they are portrayed as vicious and bitter. They are unhappy in their positions and possibly incapable of fulfilling them. Over all, women are clearly different and often much less capable than men.

The story infers that Paul's psychological issues stem from the lack of motherly influence in his life. The story opens with Paul's father confessing to Paul's principal, "his perplexity about his son." Raising a child is a mother's job, and his father is ill equipped for the task. In Paul's cookie-cutter neighborhood, the women, "in their Sunday 'waists,' sat in rockers on the cramped porches." Every 'normal' family had a motherly figure within it. The author goes into great description of the normalcy of such homes, implying Paul's abnormality is due to the variance.

Not having a mother leaves an emotional void within Paul that he strives to fill throughout the story. Paul's thoughts of his room include a description of a framed motto made by his mother, "whom Paul could not remember.". He has been without a mother for as long as he can recall. This is important to keep in mind when he talks of the beginnings of his psychological problems. When thinking about his theft, Paul realizes that, "even when he was a little boy, it was always there". There was no evident catalyst for his problems. Had he lost his mother at a later age, there would have been, and their source would have been more evident. Since she has been gone since he was a baby, his issues have been growing since that time, as well.