"Run Forest! Run!"

In "Paul's Case", Paul is trying to run from his depression.  He is getting in trouble in school, live in a gross home, and is not enjoying any of it.  Paul acts happy while he is being ridiculed by his teachers but on the inside he is really hurting.  Running away to New York was his was to "escape" his sadness but he nobody can run away from depression.  The author is trying to examine the effects of running away but clearly it does not help Paul because in the end he commits suicide.  Running away from home will not fix any problems and that is clearly shown through the end result in "Paul's Case".

In “The Chrysanthemums”, Elisa never runs away.  She contemplates it though when the traveling man shows up at her house.  He tells her that traveling as much as he does is “a scary life” (357) for a woman.  Also the man says to Elisa, “’It would be a lonely life for a woman.” (357).  These statements irritated her and if she tried to run away it would have been a type of rebellion. It would be against stereotypes and sexism towards women.  Elisa never ran away or tried to change the man’s thoughts of women so she wasn't successful.