The Role of Unfulfilled Expectations in E. A. Robinson's Richard Cory
In E. A. Robinson's "Richard Cory", Cory commits suicide because he could not live up to everyone's expectations of him. In the very first stanza of the poem Cory is described by the author: "He was a gentleman from sole to crown, Clean favored, and imperially slim" (Robinson l. 3 & 4), suggesting and comparing him to royalty. Surely, living up to such a hierarchy is the most taxing task one can be appointed. The poem makes reference to his material possessions, suggesting this is one of the key qualities people admire him for. Cory possibly facing bankruptcy feels he will be nothing and thought of as nothing once these gifts are gone. Such high expectations and admiration of Cory have backed him into a corner where he feels the only escape is a suicidal death.
It has been believed by many that royalty is directly appointed by God, such a position carries an immense amount of expectations. At times, these expectations are not even ascertainable due to the fact that royalty is looked at as flawless and all-knowing individuals. For a single human to cope with this is assuming a great amount of strength is possessed by the man. As stated by Robinson: "In fine we thought he was everything" (l. 11), expresses how immeasurably high the expectations were for Cory. To be held to such a high standard is difficult for any average human to manage and cope with. Fear of making the slightest mistake as the man is being watched under a microscope causes a permanent stress within one's soul. Living life knowing others are admirable of your status and position makes every day decisions just as crucial as a King's decisiveness. As an average member of societ...
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...ost literal and logical sense, a self-inflicted death is a more supported idea, especially when Robinson writes: "Went home and put a bullet through his head" (l. 16). I talked of the death being made to look like an accident, but that is purely an outside spin that a reader has to put on the verse. Taking the literal meaning of what the author states is more convincing. The stresses that Cory endures due to the high pedestal he is held on is a stronger cause for an individual to snap than that of the envious and jealous nature humans are use to dealing with. Cory committing suicide is a much more believable approach than that of a murder.
Work Cited
Robinson, Edwin Arlington. "Richard Cory." Literature-Reading, Reacting, Writing, 4th ed. Laurie Kirszner & Stephen Mandell, eds. Fort Worth: Harcourt College Publishers, 2001. 986.
Robinson, Edward Arlington. "Richard Cory." The Pocket Book of Modern Verse. New York: Washington Square Press, 1954. 153.
Bibliography:.. Works Cited Meyer, M., Ed., (1999). Bedford Introduction to Literature, 5th Ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin.
Meyer, Michael. The Bedford Introduction to Literature. Ed. 8th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2008. 2189.
The analysis of each of their writing differs a little but ultimately, they both discuss death. The context of Robinson’s writing leaves the readers guessing and does not give a clear reasoning but one’s own interpretation. The writing of “Richard Cory” says that the author planted hidden reason within the writing. This hidden aspect leads the reader to assume a psychological issue not seen from the outside, but rather an issue that one feels within himself. Chopin takes the death of one of her characters and makes the reader feel as though the character is free because of death. The shocking horror to assume one is now free from a life of personal misery just to discover that the person you thought was dead is now alive and standing in front of you. Chopin also used death in her writing “Désirée’s Baby.” At the end of this writing, Chopin’s character Désirée walks off into the bayou, with her baby, and never returned, leaving the reader to interpret the character’s
When the topic of hate and bias crime legislation is brought up two justifications commonly come to mind. In her article entitled “Why Liberals Should Hate ‘Hate Crime Legislation” author Heidi M. Hurd discusses the courts and states views that those who commit hate and bias crimes ought to be more severely punished. She takes into consideration both sides of the argument to determine the validity of each but ultimately ends the article in hopes to have persuaded the reader into understanding and agreeing with her view that laws concerning the punishment of hate and bias laws should not be codified. Hate crime is described as a violent, prejudice crime that occurs when a victim is targeted because of their membership in a specific group. The types of crime can vary from physical assault, vandalism, harassment or hate speech. Throughout the article Hurd tried to defend her view and explain why there should be no difference of punishment for similar crimes no matter the reason behind it. Her reason behind her article came from the law that President Obama signed in 2009 declaring that crimes committed with hatred or prejudice should have more sever punishments. While the court has their own views to justify their reasoning behind such decisions, in the article Hurd brings up points and facts to prove the wrongfulness of creating such a law. However, though Hurd has made her views clear in the following essay I will discuss reasons why the penalties are justifiable, why they should receive the same degree of punishment, less punishment and my personal view on the topic.
Santos, Marlisa. "To Kill A Mockingbird." Bloom, Harold. The Hero's Journey. New York: Bloom's Literary Criticism, 2009. 207-213.
However, hate crimes can be deemed as a form of prejudice. It is a form of prejudice that is fixed upon a group of people built on their culture, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, religious preference, or any other essential characteristic. We must keep in mind, that anytime when there is diversity amongst groups of individuals who come into the presence of one another, there is a greater risk or the opportunity for tension or a conflict to emerge. Without a doubt, this primes violence. No matter if the alleged misconduct in question is assault, theft, verbal abuse or even murder, the enthusiasm that stems from such, is grounded on the concept of hate for a set of individuals that is declared or considered as appearing different in some sort of way ("History of Hate Crime - Crime Museum", 2017).
Lyons, Christopher J. 2006. “Stigma or Sympathy? Attributions of Fault to Hate Crime Victims and Offenders.” American Sociological Association. 69:39-59
Harmon, William, William Flint Thrall, Addison Hibbard, and C. Hugh Holman. A Handbook to Literature. 11th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2009. Print.
In “Richard Cory”, the main character, Richard Cory, is a man who comes across as perfect to others: a gentleman, clean, slim, educated. Richard Cory was admired by all and was the man whom everyone desired to be. Those who had admired him came from a lower class than him and looked up to him as being superior. However, despite Cory’s perfectness that was displayed to others, one night Cory did the unpredictable and shot himself in the head. Paul Laurence Dunbar was one of the first
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 issues of wealth during an early time period, Paul Simon creates a contemporary "Richard Cory", showing the transformation of the American Dream coinciding with the passage of time.
Harmon, William, and C. Hugh Holman. A Handbook to Literature. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1996.
...h will always remain a mystery. People can read the poem and come up with many different assumptions on why Richard Cory ultimately killed himself, but we will never be certain which one is right. This situational ironic story shows that appearances don’t always reflect the true picture of man’s inner being. Richard Cory is not a King; he is human
Pragmatics, the language of conversation, is a large component of language that unfortunately, many individuals have difficulties with. Beginning at a young age, teachers and other adults can generally sense a problem with a child’s socialization s...
Imitation is involved to some extent, of course, but the early words and sentences that children produce show that they are not simply imitating adult speech. Since there is an infinite number of potential sentences implied, children’s complex and creative utterances cannot be explained by a passive response to the language of the environment. In addition, imitation cannot account for common child language mistakes, which are highly unlikely to be failed imitations of what adults would say (Cattell, 2000).