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The analysis of richard cory
The influence of celebrity
Poem analysis richard cory by E.A Robinson
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Edwin Arlington Robinson's Richard Cory
I have always secretly envied my dearest high school friend Erin. It was easy to be jealous of Erin since she was tall with beautiful blonde hair that turned many heads. She possessed grace and style and had the coolest car. Though people try to resist envy, most succumb to it from time to time. As people focus on all that they lack, they tend to ignore the flaws in those they envy. The observers in the poem Richard Cory allow envy to cloud their perception of themselves.
Cory appears to have it all. The poor townspeople look at him and they see the qualities that they themselves lack. An ugly person may believe that if they were beautiful then happiness would be secure. A lonely person believes that finding someone to end his loneliness would diminish his sadness. This is evident in the first three stanzas. The townspeople notice Cory’s appearance as superior to their own. “He glittered when he walked” (Robinson 986). They also noted the main character’s manner and abundance of material possessions. The observers were too busy working to have time to put effort in improving manners and could not even think of saving money when they were lucky not to starve. Many people want to be more outwardly beautiful or to have more money. My aunt and uncle were coming home to Indiana from Iowa for the Thanksgiving holiday six years ago when they met a drunk driver in a head-on collision. I remember the anguish my family felt for the following few days when we were unsure whether my uncle was going to survive. He did survive though he was altered for the next few years and suffered permanent damage to his body. Insurance companies are set up to right wrongs wit...
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...een fulfilled. The observers’ separate Cory and isolate him because of their perceptions of him.
I learned a very important lesson about envy a few years after becoming friends with Erin. After spending a few years wishing to be more like her, I expressed my feeling of envy. To my amazement, she expressed shock at the idea of my jealousy. She then told me of how before she became my friend that she was envious of me. I was friendly and possessed an outgoing personality whereas she was very timid. If the townspeople had the opportunity to develop a relationship with Richard Cory as I had with my schoolmate, they likely would have discovered their enviable qualities as well.
Reference:
Robinson, Edwin Arlington. “Richard Cory” Literature Reading, Reacting, Writing. 4th Ed. Ed. Camille Adkins. Orlando: Harcourt College Publishers, 2001. 986.
The purpose of this story was to illustrate the importance of how people view themselves and their abilities.
In contrast, Richard Cory was viewed as the gem of the neighborhood, unlike The Barbie doll. Richard Cory was a man loved by all. He was a man that society had put up on a pedestal. He had the looks, wealth and the manner that everyone wanted. Even though people did not really know him they wanted to live like him an...
Nobody was better looking than anybody else,” (627). This quote shows that in Harrison Bergeron’s society, everyone is identical to everyone else. People are not allowed to be unique or different in any way, shape, or form. This is due to the immense pressure of society that forces people to conform. In this case, it is the Handicapper General, one of the most influential powers, that is oppressing the individuals to become similar as well as the common person who is going along with it. When the Handicapper General suppresses George, he is forcing him to conform to be “normal,” and when the majority of the population goes along with it, they are reinforcing the conformism. This idea is also reinforced in the poem, “Richard Cory.” When describing how society views the “perfect” protagonist, the writer explains “In fine, we thought he was everything / To make us wish that we were in his place, (Robinson Lines 11-12). This quote shows how society has forced Richard Cory to be this perfect image of a man. Richard Cory was not allowed to be individualistic due to society’s standards. A good man was supposed to be rich, a gentleman, and happy. These qualities of a good person pressed in on Cory and made him become something that he was not. In the end, Richard Cory’s downfall is
The New Deal provided Americans with the assurance that things were finally changing. People were being employed, acts were passed, discrimination was addressed and women's opportunities were restored. Roosevelt's New Deal reshaped both the economy and structure of the U.S, proving it to be an extremely effective move for the American society with the economic security and benefits still being used
Meyer, Michael. The Bedford Introduction to Literature. Ed. 8th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2008. 2189.
3. The government programs of the New Deal neither eliminated individual poverty nor ended the Depression
Charters, Ann & Samuel. Literature and its Writers. 6th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martins, 2013. 137-147. Print.
Shadows contain darker emotions, such as envy, anger, or hatred, that we hide from the outside world as these emotions are perceived negatively. In Gene’s shadow, jealousy rises, as he compares himself
... still be living in a time very similar to the Great Depression. However, the New Deal did help to solve America’s problems, it did not end the depression, unemployment, or poverty; it did provide a sense of security to American citizens, and insure hope in their country (“New Deal” 3).
One of the most contradictory efforts of the New Deal was the Agricultural Adjustment Act. Through the AAA, Roosevelt proposed to pay farmers for cutting back on production or producing nothing at all. It was supposed to help increase farm prices by decreasing the supply. Now, the government had to deal with the existing surplus. The Roosevelt administration decided to destroy much of what had been already been produced, as to create a shortage so farm prices would increase. About six million pigs were slaughtered and ten million acres of cotton were destroyed. Secretary of Agriculture Henry Wallace described the wholesale destruction of crops and livestock as "a cleaning up of the wreckage from the old days of unbalanced production.
Roosevelt's enthusiasm for his role as head of state established a new convention that the President would lead from the front, and in his First Inaugural he warned that he intended to ask Congress for greater powers to enact his policies.
The United States faced the worst economic downfall in history during the Great Depression. A domino effect devastated every aspect of the economy, unemployment rate was at an all time high, banks were declaring bankruptcy and the frustration of the general public led to the highest suicide rates America has ever encountered. In the 1930’s Franklin D Roosevelt introduced the New Deal reforms, which aimed to “reconcile democracy, individual liberty and economic planning” (Liberty 863). The New Deal reforms were effective in the short term but faced criticism as it transformed the role of government and shaped the lives of American citizens.
The irony in the poem portrays the theme that looks can be very deceiving. Richard Cory was the perfect man, or so it seemed. No one saw what was going on underneath his perfect disguise. In the beginning of the poem we learn that Richard Cory is perfect and rich. Through his suicide, we learn that even Cory, a perfect man, was not as content as he seemed to others. The common people had a distorted view of Cory. They thought Cory was happy because he was wealthy and came across as perfect when in reality, he had faults and suffered. His appearance was deceiving as he hid his suffering with a mask- his looks, his riches, and the way he kept himself. Since he appeared to be of a higher class and richer than the common people, it would seem as though he would have no problems. Arlington emphasized how Corey had everything with his use of repetitiveness using “And” at the beginning of each line describing Cory’s characteristics. The common people judged Richard Cory based on what they saw, assuming he had the perfect life with everything he had, rather than who he was as a person. In “Cory”, there is no mention of Cory’s life on a personal level. The moral of this is not to judge a person by their looks, but rather who they really are because who they really are can be
Both "Richard Cory" poems by Paul Simon and Edwin Robinson reflect the idea of the American Dream, but both in distinct ways. The two poems are different in the ways that societal views have changed through time based on wealth. The image society portrays the American Dream is depicted in the poems by the conversion from royalty to fame. This change of the American Dream is shown through many symbols, but wealth best illustrates how times have changed from the Cory of Robinson's poem, to that of the poem by Paul Simon.
Meyer, M. (2013). Bedford introduction to literature: Reading, thinking, writing. Boston: Bedford Bks St Martin’s.