Introduction Willa Cather authored the short story, Paul’s Case, around 1905 while residing in the city of Pittsburgh. Cather’s short story constitutes a simple plot that involves Paul, a high school student, who experiences untold suffering at school and home. Paul depicts a flippant attitude towards his teachers as he wears a red carnation while appearing before a faculty committee. Despite the poor family relations and undesirable character at school, Cather reveals the ambitious attribute of Paul, who seeks to be like the theatre performers at Carnegie Hall instead of working in the mills and factories like his father (77). However, the author integrates the theme of temperament to reveal the extent to which such a problem could lead to individual failure. In this regard, analyzing Cather’s work in Paul’s Case is relevant for instilling an in-depth understanding of the various factors that contribute to temperament in an individual. This paper provides a critical analysis of the short story, Paul’s Case , by Willa Cather. The inefficiency of socializing agents Axiomatically, the author reveals the failure of key socializing agents in shaping the values, attitudes, and behaviors of the individual in a given society (Urgo and Skaggs 102). Importantly, the author shows that the family unit and the school institution fail significantly in instilling the necessary values that facilitate the bringing up a young individual in a way that is compatible with the shared culture. However, given that Paul’s mother passes away after she gives birth to him, the nurturing aspect of the acceptable qualities can be jeopardized since his father is usually busy in the factory and mills seeking to sustain his family (Urgo and Skaggs 78). Therefore, the author pinpoints that the inadequate attention that Paul receives from his father contributes to his character of deception and temperament that manifest at both school and home (Ku 74). Notably, Paul’s father allows him to engage his labor as an usher to sustain himself. Apparently, the father should play this role given that the boy is still young. For example, “He asked Paul whether he could not go to some boy who lived nearer, and told him that he ought not to leave his school work until Sunday; but he gave him the dime” (Cather 21). As seen, the relationship between the father and his son involves deceit, and thus, revealing the degree to the family unit fails to integrate the value of honesty, which is important in fostering healthy relationships (Wasserman 125). In this light, despite knowing that Paul is lying, the father allows him to go ahead with his intention of earning from the ushering activities at the theater. Consequently, the behavior transcends to the school setting where Paul uses deceit to cover up for his unacceptable behavior. At Pittsburgh High School, the poor conduct of Paul renders him answerable to the Faculty Committee after engaging in questionable acts. In this case, the failure of the family unit to instill the appropriate values in the young man affects his relations with other individuals in the school setting. As a result, the lack of respect for his teachers cultivates dissatisfaction with th