Paul's Case

Flowers, particularly red carnations, are the preeminent symbol throughout Cather’s story. The many references to flowers (forget-me-nots, violets, jonquils, carnations, roses, and lilies of the valley are all mentioned throughout) serve a dual function. First, they symbolize Paul’s desire for beauty and aesthetic pleasure. Their beauty, their fragrances, their association with bourgeois life—all of these are desirable to Paul.

Second, flowers symbolize the trajectory of Paul’s life. A flower grows and eventually achieves its vibrancy and colorful bloom before wilting and dying. This arc applies to Paul’s life. He is born in the dirt (Pittsburgh) before blooming in New York City, where he lives colorfully and lavishly. Finally, he wilts, and his colors fade at the end. Cather makes this explicit by referencing the red carnation at both the beginning and end of the story. At the beginning, when Paul faces the disciplinary panel, “[h]is teachers felt this afternoon that his whole attitude was symbolized by his shrug and his flippantly red carnation flower [...]” (469). The red flower, in full bloom, sets him apart from everyone in Pittsburgh, and it makes him stand out to those around him. Then, at the end, the carnation appears again, this time in an elegiac