Alienation in "Paul's Case" By Willa Cather

Alienation, as defined by the Webster's Dictionary, "is the act of estrangement or withdrawing affections" - www.dictionary.com. There are many factors that lead to the alienation of humans and alienation can take many forms, within a family or within society. When a person is considered 'different', they are pushed out of society and because of this become withdrawn and eventually find themselves even more abnormal. In the short story, "Paul's Case" by Willa …

…someone they are truly not they know the feeling of being alienated. Society causes one to create a false happiness, which gives them false hope. In the long run, all those that are alienated by society could end up living alone. "To dare to live alone is the rarest courage; since there are many who had rather meet their bitterest enemy in the field, than their own hearts in their closet." -Charles Caleb Colton, Lacon, 1825