Paul's Case

New York City is so wonderful and different for Paul because he can be his own person there. Back home, Paul lives his life feeling "trapped" by his father; in New York he is free from that. He feels like his life disappoints his father. In the story, readers can sense that his father wishes Paul was different and had a life that he approves of. At the bottom of page 240 and at the top of page 241, while Paul's father is talking to one of the magnates of a great steel corperation, the narrorator explains to readers the father's comparison to that man and his wishes that Paul was and will become different. This man "was daily held up to Paul as a model, and after whom is was his father's dearest hope that he would pattern" and "was look upon as a man with a future." From this, the reader's sense that Paul's father wishes for him to have a bright future just like this man, but is not going the right way to achieve it.

Paul likes New York City because, not only is he free from his father, but he is finally accepted into society. In the city, noone knows him and is telling him what to do. He does not have anybody lecturing him about a bright future. Paul is also very enumerated, among other ways, because he has noone to please or displease (such as his father), He can also make and follow his own decisions about life.