The Two Versions of Richard Cory, Essay Example

Richard Cory was defined by both Paul Simons and Edwin Robinson as a rich man who had everything everyone else desired to have. However, in the course of defining the being of the man behind the name, the two authors took different approaches to the matter. Robinson was more concerned on directly showing how other people viewed Richard Cory. Spearheading his description as to how well accepted Richard Cory was among the people in the community and how well learned he is especially when it comes to knowing how to dress himself to dignify his being and how to deal with others. Robinson also did not forget to present how Richard Cory stood which establishes his attitude, his manners and behavior towards others. Seeing how the perspective of others define Richard Cory’s value, Robinson utilized what others see and how such understanding bounces upon the identity of Cory as an individual known and almost idolized by everyone else.

On the other hand, Simons represents Cory in his poem based on a personal degree of noting how much he envies the man, what he has and what he enjoys in life. Saying how he works for the man’s factory as he looks up to Cory while silently wishing that he could be someone like him. Focusing on his riches, Simons’ poem was more dedicated towards the description of the material possessions that Cory had which made him the most envied individual in town.

What is seemingly similar on both poems is the description of how Cory dies. The fact that he placed a bullet on his head was presented in both poems as a shocking detail to the life of an envied person. Nevertheless, Simons and Robinson did not fail to impose that with such riches, possessions, and supposedly good life, there could have been something else that the people did not see that pushed Richard Cory to kill himself.

References

Edwin Robinson. Richard Cory.http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/richard-cory/. (Retrieved on November 6, 2012). Paul Simons. Richard Cory.