The short story "Paul's Case" is about a young boy who struggles to fit in at home and in school. This story begins with the reader finding out that Paul, the main character, has been suspended from high school. He meets with his principal and teachers, who complain about Paul's "defiant manner" in class and the "physical aversion" he exhibits toward his teachers. In the evening, Paul works as a "model" usher for Carnegie Hall in Pittsburgh. After helping seat the patrons in his section, he stays for the concert and enjoys the social scene while losing himself in the music. After the concert, Paul follows the soloist and imagines life inside her hotel room. As Paul heads home and walks through his neighborhood, the reader learns that Paul and his father have a poor relationship. Upon returning home very late that night, Paul enters through the basement window to avoid a confrontation with his father. Paul stays awake for the rest of the night in the basement, imagining what would happen if his father mistook him for a burglar and shot him. Not only does Paul wonder if his father will recognize him in time, but he also entertains the idea of his father possibly regretting not shooting him when he had the chance to do so.
Paul feels out of place with the people on Cordelia Street because they serve to remind him of his own lackluster life. Although his father considers him a role model for Paul, Paul is unimpressed by a plodding young man who works for an iron company and is married with four children. While Paul longs to be wealthy, cultivated, and powerful, he lacks the stamina and ambition to change his condition. Instead, Paul escapes his monotonous life by visiting Charley Edwards, a young actor. Later on, Paul makes it clear to one of his teachers that his job ushering is more important than his schoolwork, causing his father to prevent him from continuing to work as an usher. He is taken out of school and put to work at an entry-level office job, and Charley is compelled to promise not to see Paul again.
Paul takes a train to New York City after stealing a large sum of money from his job that he was supposed to take to the bank. He buys an expensive wardrobe, rents a room at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, and explores the city. In the city, he meets a 'wild San Francisco boy, a freshman at Yale, who said he had run down for a "little flyer" over Sunday', who takes Paul on an all-night tour of the city's lively social scene. Paul's few days of impersonating a rich, privileged young man bring him more contentment than he had ever known, living the lavish lifestyle of his hopes and dreams. However, on the eighth day, after spending most of his money, Paul reads in a Pittsburgh newspaper that his theft has been made public. His father has reimbursed Paul's job and is on his way to New York City to bring Paul back home. It is then revealed that Paul had purchased a gun upon arriving, and briefly considers shooting himself to avoid returning to his old life. Eventually, he decides against using the gun; instead, the thought of returning to his old lifestyle pushes Paul to kill himself by jumping in front of a train.[8]
