Money Can Be Controlling
Money is a powerful thing, but allowing it to take control of your life, how you feel and what you do with it can end in terrible consequences. The economic theory states that all human endeavors are driven by money/desire for power or position. In the story Paul’s Case, by Willa Cather exemplifies the literary criticism economic theory through the main character Paul’s internal self and his life around him.
The economic theory is shown in this story by the way Paul has a desire for the nicer things. When learning that the theory has to do with how money can make people feel a certain way, it makes you think about how that was used in Paul’s Case. “His clothes were a trifle outgrown and the tan velvet on the collar of his open overcoat was frayed and worn; but for all that there was something of the dandy about him, and he wore an opal pin in his neatly knotted black four-in-hand, and a red carnation…show more content… 74) This quote explains that Paul cared a lot about how he looked, and how people saw him, but his dad felt the opposite and did not find that buying new clothes was a priority. The economic theory used by the author was to show why Paul and his dad were different when it came to money. Money to them had different uses, one found it to be used more practical and the other was the desire to a better lifestyle.
Another way the economic theory is shown in this story was the way Paul had unrealistic outlooks on the true meaning of money, his social class and how those many ways had an effect on him. “He doubted, more than ever, the existence of Cordelia Street, and for the first time he drank his wine recklessly. Was he not, after all, one of those fortunate beings born to the purple, was he not still himself and in his own place? He drummed a nervous accompaniment to the Pagliacci music and looked
