King Narcissist, Paul’s Case

Willa Cather’s Paul’s Case is not just a case of teenage arrogance but a full blown case of Narcissistic Personality Disorder and Paul’s inability to cope with the realities of his disadvantageous social standing.  Narcissistic behavior is one in which every activity and relationship is defined by the visceral need to acquire the symbols of wealth.  The DSM-IV, the text used by psychiatrists to aid in diagnosis of mental disorders, lists nine essential features of a Narcissistic Personality Disorder, which Paul meets completely; they are:

            “(1) has a grandiose sense of self-importance (2) is preoccupied with fantasies of unlimited success, power, brilliance, beauty, or ideal love (3) believes that he or she is special and unique and can only be understood by, or should associate with, other special or high-status people (4) requires excessive admiration (5) has a sense of entitlement, i.e., unreasonable expectations of especially favorable treatment or automatic compliance with his or her expectations (6) is interpersonally exploitative, i.e., takes advantage of others to achieves his or her own ends (7) lacks empathy: is unwilling to recognize or identify with the feelings and needs of others (8) is often envious of others or believes that others are envious of him or her (9) shows arrogant, haughty behavior or attitudes” (661).

Paul consumed in an attitude of low self-esteem and feeling of smallness became obsessed with his need to separate himself from the “immense design of things” and ultimately led to his final act of suicide by train.  Paul the Narcissist allowed his refusal of the position he held in society and desires for the grandiose destroy him, and one can compare his Narcissistic actions as railroad tracks to his destruction. 

 American Psychiatric Association.  Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders:  DSM-IV.  4th ed.  Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association, 1994.      

Cather, Willa. “Paul’s Case ‘A Study in Temperament.’” The Norton Anthololgy of Short Fiction.  Ed. Richard Bausch and R.V. Cassill.  New York, NY, 2006.  86-100.

American Psychiatric Association.  Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental disorders:  DSM-IV. 4th ed. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association, 1994.

            This is the text used by psychiatrists and psychologists to help diagnose mental disorders.  Narcissistic Personality Disorder is one of the ten disorders recognized by DSM-IV and is defined by nine criteria (listed in the introduction) and a number of decision rules in making a diagnosis.  These criteria serve as a solid foundation for an argument towards Paul considering the criteria is on the analysis of a group of scholars that dedicate their lives to evaluating empirical data from research on Narcissistic Personality Disorder.