# Pauline — So Big character guide

> Pauline in So Big by Edna Ferber.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Paula, Paula Arnold, Paula Storm

**First appearance:** 0000-i

## Snapshot

Selina's beautiful, restless friend who marries into Storm money and presides over thirteen servants with a lifted eyebrow.

## Who they are

Paula — Pauline Arnold, later Paula Storm — is the glittering counterexample to Selina's grubbing life, a woman who trades beauty and charm for a lakefront estate, rose-brocade guest rooms, and a husband who telephones that he'll be late. She is generous, careless, and entirely at home in the world of money that Dirk covets, and she gives him his first real taste of how the other half lives. Her ease and her emptiness both matter: she shows the reader what Dirk is reaching for, and how little it actually nourishes.

## Relationships

### [Dirk DeJong](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/so_big_se/characters/dirk_dejong)

_romantic_

A passionate but ultimately doomed love affair marked by Dirk's infatuation and Pauline's manipulative charm.

### [Selina DeJong](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/so_big_se/characters/selina_dejong)

_rivalry_

A tense, antagonistic relationship as Pauline views Selina as a rival for Dirk's affection and approval.

### [Julie Hempel](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/so_big_se/characters/julie_hempel)

_social_

A superficial friendship between two society women, bonded by gossip and shared social circles.

### [Dirk DeJong](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/so_big_se/characters/dirk_dejong)

_romantic_

A passionate but ultimately doomed love affair marked by Dirk's infatuation and Pauline's manipulative charm.

### [Julie Hempel](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/so_big_se/characters/julie_hempel)

_social_

A superficial friendship between two society women, bonded by gossip and shared social circles.

### [Dirk DeJong](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/so_big_se/characters/dirk_dejong)

_romantic_

A passionate but ultimately doomed love affair marked by Dirk's infatuation and Pauline's manipulative charm.

### [Julie Hempel](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/so_big_se/characters/julie_hempel)

_social_

A superficial friendship between two society women, bonded by gossip and shared social circles.

### [Selina DeJong](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/so_big_se/characters/selina_dejong)

_rivalry_

A tense, antagonistic relationship as Pauline views Selina as a rival for Dirk's affection and approval.

## In the story

### [Chapter XIV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/so_big_se/chapters/xiv)

Paula is described as dark, slim, and vivacious, with a love of luxury. She drives a car, attends parties, and openly states she will have to marry money. Dirk is strongly attracted to her.

### [XV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/so_big_se/chapters/xv)

Picks Dirk up in her roadster, shows him her stables and coach house, and tries to engage him in riding and driving.

### [XVI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/so_big_se/chapters/xvi)

Paula Storm is mentioned as being 'insane about Dirk' and spending too much time with him, though she refuses to divorce her husband Theodore Storm.

### [Chapter XVII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/so_big_se/chapters/xvii)

Helped Dirk furnish his apartment, which Selina finds uninviting.

### [Chapter XVIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/so_big_se/chapters/xviii)

Paula is Dirk's wife, who expresses guarded and unenthusiastic opinions about Dallas O'Mara, hinting at jealousy or concern.

### [XIX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/so_big_se/chapters/xix)

Hosts a dinner for General Goguet and Roelf Pool; described as 'too gay' and irritating Dirk with her mannerisms.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/so_big_se/characters/pauline
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/so_big_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/so_big_se/characters