In reality going to New York in order to live out this imaginative reality cannot repair the emotional damage that Paul suffers from this separation from “mother” and in fact causes it to continually worsen until Paul takes his own life.
While in New York the mental repercussions of being separated from “mother” and removed from the world of art do not disappear. These repercussions, in actuality, become more evident such has disconnection from society, these feelings of being unloved and unwanted and this need to please others due to a fear of being rejected by the one place he thought he would belong.
The most evident repercussion of this traumatic event is Paul’s disconnection from society. This disconnection from society is first seen when Paul is eating alone and Cather says, “He had no especial desire to meet or to know any of these people; all he demanded was the right to look on and conjecture, to watch the pageant.” The fact that Paul sits alone and has no desire to speak with anyone else establishes that Paul is disconnected from those around him. Before New York Paul is still able to establish some sort of connection with those around him. It is after being separated from Carnegie Hall that Paul is solely focused on this imaginative reality, that Paul fully disconnects from society. Therefore, illustrating how his connection is severed as a result of this traumatic