"Night Mother" and "Richard Cory" are two pieces that both deal with suicide. The characters in both are so different, yet at the same time, very much alike. Both contain a lot of surprises and even somewhat confusing parts. The reader is left asking themselves why the characters in both of these writings had to end it all. Did they really have it that bad?
"Night Mother" deals with a woman named Jessie who suffers from epilepsy and lives with her mother, who is named Thelma. From the beginning one can see that Thelma talks non stop and that Jessie is not very happy with her current situation. Jessie begins to inquire about the whereabouts of her father's gun. At first she claims that it is for protection, but then soon
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Jessie breaks free, closes the door, and we hear the fatal gunshot.
"Richard Cory" is a short poem that throws the reader a complete swerve. The writer seems to portray Richard Cory as a man who people admire, a man that people are in awe of. He is wealthy and intelligent, and everyone would love to be in his position. "And he was rich, yes, richer than a king, and admirably schooled in every grace: In fine, we thought that he was everything, to make us wish that we were in his place." (9-12).
All of a sudden, the final two lines reveal that Richard Cory actually commits suicide. "And Richard Cory, one calm summer night, went home and put a bullet through his head."(15-16). Why did Cory do it? What are the reasons?
When comparing the two writings, we see how similar, yet how different they are. The first couple of lines in "Richard Cory" suggest his distinction, his separation from ordinary people. The second two tell the reader about his natural appearance is like. The writer than gives us the impression that Cory is a rich man who seems to be envied by everyone. The first fourteen lines of the poem are setting the reader up for the final two, the part about suicide. People on the street only knew Cory on the outside, they did not know the real man himself. Cory appears to be a man who has everything. What private sense of failure drove him to this?
In “Richard Cory” People look at him with awe and envy. His very presence turns people’s heads and they are happy to see him. He gave off an aura that is almost intimidating to those around him, “he glittered when he walked” (Robinson “Richard Cory” line 8) not scary intimidating but it made them scared to talk to him. Richard has all that he needs but he still isolates himself from everyone. It is unknown what made him so unhappy other that just isolation from everyone. Because of all of this, one night he “went home and put a bullet through his head” (Robinson “Richard Cory” line 12). In the poem “Not Waving but Drowning”, he is a man amongst people. Who is a happy guy who “always loves larking” (Smith line 5). He seems to always be happy but not a person paid very close attention to him. He has a false happiness about him. He is really all alone and we do not notice that he is “Not Waving but Drowning”. Both Richard and the “dead man” (Smith line 1) are examples of imposed isolation. They are bot chosen by isolation and it costs them both their lives.
Richard Cory and Miniver Cheevy, both are shunned from society neither having any real friends. Richard Cory is admired by his peers, whereas, Miniver Cheevy is different; people did not look up on him. One man giving the impression to have everything takes his own life, while the other had nothing accepts his misery. For Richard Cory, the saying money cannot buy happiness, could not be more appropriate. He is, according to the people of the town, the man with everything. “Whenever Richard Cory went down town, We people on the pavement looked at him: He was a gentleman from sole to crown, Clean favored, and imperially slim.
Little did they know, that this man was not as happy, as everyone perceived him to be. One calm summer night Richard Cory put a bullet through his head.
One of the main themes throughout the book is the title of the book “Night”. There are references from Eliezer about night during the book, which are full of symbolism. The word “night” is used repeatedly, and Eliezer recounts every dusk, night and dawn through the entire book. For instance, Night could be a metaphor for the Holocaust—submerge the family and thousands of Jewish families in the darkness and misery of the concentration camps.
Night by Elie Wiesel was one of the best books I have ever read. Night is the story about Elie’s horrible time spent in Auschwitz and Buna the death camps. This story impacted me the most because all of this is real. Elie’s mother and sister were murdered as soon as they arrived. The story goes on telling his unimaginable experiences with his father in 1944 during the Holocaust.
Night is a memoir written by Elie Wiesel, a young Jewish boy, who tells of his experiences during the Holocaust. Elie is a deeply religious boy whose favorite activities are studying the Talmud and spending time at the Temple with his spiritual mentor, Moshe the Beadle. At an early age, Elie has a naive, yet strong faith in God. But this faith is tested when the Nazi's moves him from his small town.
After releasing from the police station, Elle’s father told his friends and relatives that, “The news is terrible, TRANSPORTS!” (Wiesel, P.13). The Jews thought that Hitler had given up his plan about the annihilation of Jews. They relaxed for a few months but Elle’s father had made people scared. They thought the German would kill all of them. After that, most of the Jews were not able to sleep and felt worried about their futures. At the same time, Night also told significant things in the Jews’ minds. One of the most touching things was about Elle’s friends, Juliek. Despite the cold weather during the transportation to another concentration camp, Juliek was persistently playing violin and he played a song during the night time. Elle mentioned in the book, “The darkness enveloped us. All I could hear was the violin, and it was as if Juliek’s soul had become his bow.” (Wiesel, P.95). It was important as many people in the concentration camp had lost their friends, families, or even interests. However, Juliek didn’t lose his interest in playing violin and his persistence became much stronger than German’s weapons. Night was symbolic in the Jews’ minds. It emphasised the helpless of the Jews, but at the same time, Night also witnessed lots of important things in the camp, which made them unforgettable.
While reading the poems “Richard Cory” and “Ezra Farmer”, it is almost immediately evident which poem is an original and which is a parody. Both poems are clearly about men that are popular among those he meets, but once the reader looks beneath the surface, they notice how the diction plays an important role in relaying the theme to the audience it is presented to. In the poem “Richard Cory” written by Edwin Arlington Robinson, the theme being portrayed is that people are not always as how they seem.
Richard Cory poems are a traditional type of poetry found all throughout different time periods. The poems range from the original to song variations, all contributing their own perspectives on what Richard Cory symbolized, and each takes their own distinct form. Richard Cory poetry usual contains the distinct ending of Richard Cory taking his own life, but each poem adds its own variations to this repetitive theme. Throughout the poems, there are also many similar themes, which portray a consistent theme of the American Dream and how it transforms. Many symbolic issues that deal with this dream are related to wealth, which is the most prominent reoccurring theme in the two poems. Whereas Robinson's "Richard Cory" focuses on symbolic
The poem “Richard Cory” is a description and story of a man named Richard Cory, of course. The speaker of the poem is an impoverished, blue-collar
He tried to speak to the people on the pavement however “he fluttered pulses when he said ‘Good Morning”. The people on the pavement put Richard Cory on a pedestal and therefore could not speak to him. They envied him and hated him they wanted his life so easy, so simple, and so happy. They continued to work and hope that one day they too could be as rich and as happy as Richard Cory, hating him even more everyday they “went without meat”. Then “Richard Cory, one calm summer night, went home and put a bullet through his head”. One calm summer night implies there was nothing special or unusual about that particular night, it was the same as any other and yet the town’s god/outcast, commits suicide, for apparently no reason. Robinson gives no insight into Cory’s mind, we can only assume he was so miserable that he could not bear to go another day, with the people on the pavement looking at him and hating him more and more.
Throughout the poem, Richard Cory appears to have it all: the looks, the wealth and the status. Everyone in the town wants to be just like him due to the perfection which he seems to display. The whole town stops and only thinks of the money he has and how amazing his life would be, but they do not realize what he is feeling or never stop to really talk to him. In the reality, he lacks happiness, the key ingredient to “having it all.” The irony of the poem is that this man, who seems to have everything perceived to bring happiness, kills himself because he is unhappy with his life.
The quote “You can never tell a book by its cover” stands true to illustrate Simon’s ironic tone throughout the poem. Simon spends most of the poem indicating how many people wanted to be like "Richard Cory". They envied his manners, his wealth and his status. Everyone wished that we were in his place. Then suddenly, in the last line, we discover Cory has killed himself. This is the ultimate irony. Obviously, Cory was terribly
“Richard Cory” written by Edwin Robinson, throughout this poem wants us to ask ourselves, do high-end clothes and items make us happy? Should we judge people based on their outward appearance? Are rich people always happy with their lives? After reading this poem, I realized that the answers to those questions are no. No, high-end clothes and items don 't make us happy. No, we shouldn’t judge people; we don’t know what is going on in their lives. Lastly, we don’t know the rich people personally some may not be as happy as they seem on the outside. I read once, “ Man is the maker of his character, the molder of his life, and the builder of his destiny. The facade that people put forth can be a deceptive semblance of the soul, an illusion meant to hide their superficial nature.” It turns out in the end that underneath his good looks and wealth, Richard Cory is an unhappy man. Even though it appeared he had everything in one part, he had nothing in another. This poem proves that wealth, good looks and material things can’t guarantee someone’s happiness.