Paul

* Mererra
* Heitz
* Cartoon
* McCauley
* Schick
* Allen
* Brinckloe
* Hockerman

> May I pull just one of your pigtails? Please?
>
> Paul in "Pigtails"

**Paul** is a character in the *Wayside School* books. He does not appear in the cartoon. He is one of the many students in Mrs. Jewls's class. He is a student who is oftentimes inattentive, and has a strange obsession with Leslie's pigtails, which he loves pulling.

## Appearance

Currently, no physical description of Paul has been given. In "A Story That Isn't About Socks," Paul's "best clothes" are his cowboy-and-Indian pajamas. Leslie describes him as "heavy" in "Pigtails," but this likely applies for any kid Leslie would have to pull somewhere with her pigtails. Also, in his Brinckloe, Schick, and McCauley illustrations, he is depicted sporting a plaid sweater.

## Personality

Paul is a student who has difficulty controlling his irresistable urges, primarily his urge to pull Leslie's pigtails. Paul's interest in Leslie's pigtails leans towards a border-line obsession, paying more attention to them than anything Mrs. Jewls is saying, and constantly trying to resist his desire to pull them. Aside from that, Paul is described as inattentive, never focusing on the lessons Mrs. Jewls is trying to teach the rest of the class. Paul is seen to frequently be pulled into his own imagination, such as in "Paul" where he holds an imaginary argument with Leslie's pigtails in an attempt to resist pulling them. Paul hates being the center of attention because of this, worrying that becoming the center of attention would put him in trouble.

He tries his best to be a good friend to Leslie, though it is unknown if this friendship is sincere or just an attempt to pull her pigtails, as he feels that should be his reward for not pulling her pigtails for a few months. He is aware that what he is doing is hurting Leslie, and realizes that something must be wrong with him. In "A Story with a Disappointing Ending," he willingly goes to the counselor's office, despite how scared he is of Dr. Pickell. It's likely that Paul never intends to hurt anybody, but gets so tied up in his own interests that he ends up doing it anyway.

## Relationships

### Leslie

 File:Paul Chapter Heitz.png  Paul has an "on-again, off-again" relationship with Leslie, mainly due to his obsession with her pigtails and his desire to pull them. In "Paul," he considers different activities he could do with Leslie's pigtails, including tying them together or to her chair, but most of all, he just wants to pull them. He is aware that this is wrong, as seen in both "Paul" and "A Story with a Disappointing Ending," but he has trouble helping himself. In "Pigtails," it is stated that Paul and Leslie are friends, though Leslie is disgusted with Paul when he asks to pull her pigtails, but eventually decides to compromise and give him the remaining split ends. However, when he falls out the window, ultimately Leslie ends up saving his life by pulling him inside with her pigtails, and Paul saves Leslie's life in return by "The Mean Mrs. Jewls." While the two seem to occasionally be on good terms, as is seen when they make casual conversation in chapters like "The Closet That Wasn't There" and "Rainbow," Leslie is willing to keep Paul in place, as seen in "Leslie," when it's stated that she uses her feet to kick Paul, in the aforementioned scene in "Pigtails," as well as in "Blame It on the Cloud," where she threatens Paul after having both her pigtails pulled at the same time.

## Appearances

For a list of every chapter Paul is seen in, see here.

## Trivia

* Paul's name may be a pun on the word "pull", referencing his pigtail pulling habit.
* He is not in the cartoon, alongside Allison, Benjamin, Calvin, D.J., Dameon, Deedee, Jason, Joy, Kathy, Mac, Ron, Terrence, and Sue.
* Louis Sachar recalls a rejected story from *Sideways Stories from Wayside School*, in which he, as the narrator, explains that it is a great story that he can only remember half of. The story focuses on Paul, whose dialogue was left out of the chapter entirely for the reader to fill in, while Mrs. Jewls would still speak for the entire duration of the chapter. At the end of the chapter, Mrs. Jewls would turn to the reader, and ask what they are doing in her class. The story was rejected by the book's editor, and likely replaced with "Paul."

### Other designs

Paul Book Illustration.PNGPeter Allen design (British edition, 2004)Paul Kim.pngKim Jungseok design (Korean edition, 2006)Paul Kitamura.pngSatoshi Kitamura design (Japanese edition, 2010)Paul Simplified Chinese.pngUnknown illustrator (Simplified Chinese edition, 2012)
1. ↑ Fuzzy Mud Q & A