What Does Richard Cory Mean

Richard Cory written by Edwin Robinson was taken from the point of view of the townspeople around him. They make him out to be this rich, happy, and admirable man. “In fine, we thought that he was everything. To make us wish that we were in his place.” To everyone in the town, he seemed like a great guy; someone everyone wanted to be. They distanced themselves from him though, put him on a pedestal. The town says

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

When Simon goes further and describes Cory owning "one half this whole town", he further imbeds the idea that Cory is extremely rich and that he lives the American Dream as a wealthy businessman. Both poems are clearly related to this central topic, and it is undoubtedly changed through the continuance of time.

Imagery was seen throughout the poem due to the way words were placed by Robinson. Edwin Robinson includes the statement, “Whenever Richard Cory went down town, We people on the pavement looked at him” (Robinson, Line 1-2). As the audience reads those lines, it is as if they imagine a celebrity walking the streets and people admiring the celebrity. Robinson includes this perspective because he wants us to imagine the altitude of the effects as the man was walking being admired. In addition, he also states that

By the use of these metaphors Robinson serves to insinuate that Cory was so impressive in his movements he seemed to sparkle in his stride. In addition to, metaphorical phrasing Robinson also uses alliteration to emphasize the whole idea of “everything is alright” and that nothing in the stretch of the imagination is wrong with the luxurious life of this man. Furthermore, this then leads into how irony plays a part in the overall takeaway of this poem when he writes, “And Richard Cory, one calm summer night, went home and put a bullet through his head. ”(Lines 15-16) This is ironic because we as the audience are lead throughout the entire poem to believe that this

Poetry can take many forms and shapes based on the authors personal experiences. These different styles can also be interpreted in many different ways based on the reader’s view of the poem. This possible change in views can give the poem many different meanings to each individual person. “Richard Cory” by Edwin Robinson, Edwin imbeds many of his past and personal experiences into the poem while still leaving the poem up to other peoples imagination and analysis’s.

To make us wish that we were in his place. " The society secretly envied him since he seem to have it all, they wished that they could be someone who is perfect as Richard Cory. The poem says "So on we worked, and waited for the light. And went without the meat, and cursed the bread. And Richard Cory, one calm summer night, went home and put a bullet through his head.

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.

Since the first stanza people admire Richard Cory as a person who is perfect, but that all changed at the end of the poem. The tone and mood of shifts from being calm and to having an extreme surprised tone for the readers. As explain at the last stanza “ … one calm summer night / went home and put a bullet through his head”(Robinson lines 15 and 16) to give a reader an unexpected ending to the poem. The poem presents itself as Richard Cory walking in the morning, as the poet describing him with good characterization. Shifting to a summer night where he lost his life by putting a bullet in his head.

In the narrator's eye's, Cory continues to be the perfect, polite gentleman, as he was "always human when he talked.". Cory was certainly not the picture of a snobbish or rude man. Cory was also a very popular fellow, as he "fluttered pulses" with a simple "Good-morning". Add that he "glittered when he walked.", and Cory is an impressive social figure indeed.

He is forced to live up to the expectations of a rich man and is not treated in the same manner as other people in the surrounding area (“Richard Cory” 124). People treat Richard Cory differently just because he is wealthy, and by doing so Richard Cory feels even more isolated from the community. The poem states, “In fine, we thought that he was everything/ To make us wish that we were in his place” (Robinson 11-12). Instead of the community treating him the same as others, they were too interested in being like him instead of being his friend. Another wedge is placed between Richard Cory and the community when the poem states, “ And he was always human when he talked;” (Robinson 6).

“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

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.

For Richard Cory, the saying money can’t buy happiness, could not be more appropriate. He is, according to the people of the town, the man with everything. Everyone wished they could be more like him, “he had everything to make us

Richard Cory is described as a guy with a seemingly perfect life, being “a gentleman from sole to crown,” and he was “always human when he talked.” However, he then went home and “put a bullet through his head.” Richard Cory’s death shook the townspeople and everyone knew about it, but the citizen's death did not seem to concern anyone. “Was he happy? The question is absurd,” was all that was said about his death.