“Reflection of the life of Richard Cory”

“Reflection of the life of Richard Cory”

            “Money can’t buy happiness” is an old saying that echoes through time; however, it seems to echo so softly that it is quite often ignored. People everywhere in search for their fulfillment see money as a fast train leading to their destination of happiness. The envy and the jealousy of the poor and the needy lie with the rich and powerful. Richard Cory is the envy of the whole town. The townspeople look at him as if he had it all. They see his money, feel his power, know his intelligence and not one time do they ever doubt his happiness.

       They look at him as more than a mere man, and they desire and long to be looked at in this way. They assume that living like Richard Cory will bring them infinite happiness. The poem seems to indicate that everyone keeps their distance from Mr. Cory. His money does not buy him happiness and it does not bring him friends. Richard Cory led an unbearably lonely life, which is reflected in the very last line of the poem when he commits suicide by shooting himself in the head.

                 “Richard Cory” is an excellent example of didactic poetry. Richard Cory was viewed as the gem of the neighborhood.   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 and be like him. His fellow neighbors worked harder at their jobs thinking that it would help them be happy as they saw Richard Cory. Little did they know, that this man was not as happy, as everyone perceived him to be.                                                                                 Richard Cory was hiding his need for relationships if he had the need. The whole purpose of this poem is to teach a life lesson. When you become very used to one thing over time, it may begin to matter less and less. People that are not as well off as others   should not measure happiness by just dollars and cents. There is a much larger picture of personal happiness that should be addressed and maintained so that personal health and welfare are sustained. Richard Cory also appears to keep all of his emotions hidden from the rest of the world through his everyday routine. By keeping his emotions bottled up, he may eventually have popped and decided that he no longer wanted to live.  That lesson being that money cannot buy happiness.