Maternal Stability In Willa Cather’s story, “Paul’s Case,” Paul suffered setbacks and dilemmas because he never knew his mother as she died around the time of his birth. Therefore he is lacking the maternal guidance of emotional stability that every child needs to grow mentally. Paul is withdrawn from society, and he resorts to the arts and music to feel comfortable and free from his disassociation and sense of loneliness. One should not …showed first 75 words of 1801 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1801 total…He took his life because he figured that being out of the world was better than being in it. Paul still had a lot to learn, and yet more to overcome from his loneliness. Could his mother have been able to cure this if she were present? Bibliography Works Cited Cather, Willa. “Paul’s Case.” The Norton Anthology of Short Fiction. Eds. R.V. Cassill and Richard Bausch. Shorter 6th ed. New York: Norton, 2000. 198-207.