In Edwin Arlington Robinson’s poem “Richard Cory,” the narrator depicts a man who appears to have it all: wealth, looks, and charm. The narrator also explains that the entire town admires and aspires to be Richard Cory. However, everything was not as perfect in Richard Cory’s life as it seemed; at the end of the poem, the narrator describes how one summer night Richard Cory took his own life by shooting himself in the head. Because Edwin Arlington Robinson dotes on Richard Cory, the audience is shocked by the end of the poem when Cory takes his own life. Robinson utilizes word choice to elevate Richard Cory to a status above the rest of the town, establish that he has everything, and construct the idea that the townspeople admire and envy …show more content…
For example, the narrator explains that “whenever Richard Cory went down town, / we people on the pavement looked at him” (Robinson 1-2). Robinson’s word choice depicts how Cory’s status is above the rest of the town, and how the townspeople admire and envy him; due to this phrase, the audience is shocked when Cory commits suicide because his life appears to be perfect to the town. To explain, although Cory was miserable, “the townspeople wished they were in his place because of his wealth” (Scheick). Because the town envies Cory and wishes to be him, Robinson is able to shock the audience by the ghastly ending to his poem. Also, due to his word choice of how the townspeople react to Cory, Robinson is able to further shock the audience. To explain, the narrator describes that the townspeople “thought that [Richard Cory] was everything/ to make us wish that we were in his place” (Robinson 11-12). The audience is shocked when Cory takes his own life due to Robinson’s word choice pertaining to how the townspeople admire and envy Richard Cory. Because Robinson utilizes word choice to display Cory’s perceived status above the townspeople and the admiration they felt towards him, the audience is further shocked by Cory’s
The speaker of the poem recounts that Richard Cory was a “gentleman from sole to crown, clean favored, and imperially slim” and that he was “richer than a king”. The words “crown”, “imperially”, and “king” hints that people viewed Richard Cory as a man of high status and royalty. Even though he was a man who was unlike any other, “he was always human when
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.
This article is about Richard Marius and the processes he uses in his own writings. He expresses the importance of starting with just a list, committing yourself completely to the project at hand, writing numerous rough drafts, and many other guidelines that can contribute to the process of effective writing.
Edwin Arlington Robinson’s poem, “Richard Cory,” describes a group of townspeople’s envy of a man named Richard Cory, whom they perceive as wealthy solely based on his formal appearance. Throughout the poem, Robinson describes the townspeople’s envious thoughts of him; the townspeople desire a better life, like Richard Cory’s, than their own life of poverty. The townspeople thought that Richard Cory had the best life; but when Richard Cory committed suicide, their perceptions changed. They learned that his life was not like how it appeared to be, as his life may have been worse than them. As a result, readers can infer that the theme is to never judge someone based on his or her appearance.
“Richard Cory” written by Edwin Arlington Robinson is about a man who appears to be admirable on the exterior but no one is familiar with his interior, which is suffering badly. The narrator talks Richard Cory up by stating, he was "richer than a king,"(line 9) "admirably schooled,"(line 10) "we thought that he was everything to make us wish that we were in his place."(lines 11-12) Until an abrupt ending to the poem, "one calm summer night, went home and put a bullet through his head."(lines 15-16) This poem makes one think about true happiness and what it entails. From the outside one may appear to have everything but happiness does not come from wealth, it comes from within ones self and the narrator didn't take the time to really get to
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.
It is ironic how the people of down-town portrayed Richard Cory. They presumed, “he was everything/ To make us wish that we were in his place.” (Line 11-12). This great example of alliteration helps explain the fact he was viewed as the luckiest guy around. His life ended suddenly from a gun trigger pulled by himself. The way Cory’s death is described is situationally ironic. “One calm summer night” (15) is the day Cory chose to end his life. There is nothing calm about a suicide, and summer nights are generally known to be the best times of the year. The people of down town “worked, and waited for the light,” (13) waiting for their lives to get better. This great use of metaphor and alliteration helps convey the idea the people supposed they were enduring difficult times when in fact, Cory was dying from the inside out. They believed, “he glittered when he walked.” (8) and viewed him as if he were a sunshine hovering below the sun, when in reality, inside he felt like a cloudy storm. Happiness does not have a price tag and the people of down-town now understand that.
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 second main poetic device used by Robinson is irony. The apparent irony in the poem is the fact that Richard Cory killed himself. As I have discussed before, Richard Cory was this guy who had all of the things anyone could ask for. He had good-looks, money, intelligence, and was, for the most part, liked by everyone. The irony comes when the reader realizes that the majority of people would be unbelievably happy with this life. It is extremely appalling and ironic that Richard Cory could kill himself with this seemingly perfect life. The second piece of irony stems from the first. It is not necessarily the fact that
In Edwin Arlington Robinson’s poems, “Richard Cory” and “Miniver Cheevy” the main characters are portrayed as outcasts. Both are shunned from society neither having any real friends. Though these characters have some similarities, the way in which Robinson portrays them is very different. Richard Cory is admired by his peers, where as, Miniver Cheevy is opposite; people look down on him. One man appearing to have everything takes his own life, while the other appearing to have nothing accepts his misery.
Richard Cory by Edwin Arlington Robinson represents a life we all strive to achieve. The narrator describes Cory as, “Richer than a King”, “gentleman from sole to crown”. Richard Cory not only possess the wealth, his characteristic of being a gentleman makes him even more admirable. The narrator also views Richard Cory’s life as exemplary and states, “In, fine we thought that he was everything to make us wish that we were in his place”. However, as the poem comes to an end Cory commits suicide showcasing the irony that wealth does not bring happiness as so many of us often believe it will. This story relates to the American dream because we constantly strive to achieve a better life with a career, jobs, good finance and happiness. To
On December 6th, 1941 the world welcomed Richard Benjamin Speck, who would become a well-known mass murderer. Speck, having a rather rough childhood, had an extensive criminal background before committing the unspeakable murders that made him famous. After being found guilty, Speck spent his remaining days in Chicago’s Stateville Penitentiary. One can look at Richard’s personal history, crime and criminal history to try and pin him to one criminological theory, when in reality, none will really fit him to a “T”. He was a psychopath who was in great need of psychological help, among other things.
To the average eye Richard Cory would seem to have the world and no worries in life with his wealth and social status. However, Richard Cory would turn out to be unhappy and uneasy with the life around him which would seemingly lead to his death in the end. In the poem "Richard Cory" Richard Cory is a humble man who is revered by the townspeople because of his status as a wealthy individual. Many of the towns people wanted to be in his shoes and thought of him as king.
The celebrity in Cory was justified very genuinely throughout these stanzas as well by signifying touches of human emotions such as “fluttered pulses” when he said/ “Good-morning,” and allowing the reader to visualize his charisma as “he glittered when he walked” (Robinson 7-8). Compliments were exhumed from the speaker and verbal irony was not suspected. These lines allow the reader to envision their subject and recognize a tone of