In both In the Suburbs and Richard Cory, the poets present the concept that having money is not the most significant aspect of life.

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Rob Ranson

15 February 2011

Misery or Happiness? The Influence of Wealth

Considered by many to be their most prized and sought after possession, money is rather the capital for survival.  For years, the concept of materialism has consumed society.  The thought that money and majesty can make one happy has been a commonly shared notion throughout various cultures, causing people to seek happiness through tangible assets and higher social statuses.  These seekers of happiness may never find it by achieving wealthier statuses, while others find satisfaction in modest lifestyles.  It is the idea that money does buy happiness that is reflected in the poems “In the Suburbs” by Louis Simpson and “Richard Cory” by Edwin Arlington Robinson.  Although the authors of both poems shed light on different perspectives of the socio-economic spectrum, the themes in both of the pieces are similar: purpose in life cannot be purchased.  Both poems also give rise to the definition of the true American Dream is, since both a wealthy person in “Richard Cory” and a suburbanite in “In the Suburbs” seem to be unhappy with their lives.  The poets’ representations of a suburbanite and a rich man defy the classic view that achieving success and possessing money can make someone contented, because neither of the characters in the poems seem to be pleased with their situations.

        In both “In the Suburbs” and “Richard Cory,” the poets present the concept that having money is not the most significant aspect of life.  Living in the suburbs implies that one is neither extremely wealthy nor poor, yet the speaker of the poem is unhappy despite his stable lifestyle.  Thus, Simpson implies that unhappiness does not come from the inability to buy things, but rather the inability to develop a distinct identity as a result of living in the mundane and homogeneous suburbs. Through Simpson’s use of blunt diction and passive statements, the speaker conveys the dreadfulness of the “middleclass life” that accompanies residing in the suburbs – a life that is marked by conformity, ultra-conservative values, and despair (3).  This is unlike the inferences that can be made by the reader of “Richard Cory”.  In Robinson’s poem, the author uses words such as “imperially,” and “king” to describe Richard Cory.  Robinson does this to make Cory seem pleased with his stately lifestyle, only to surprise the reader at the conclusion with situational irony.  Such irony occurs when “Richard Cory […] / Went home and put a bullet through his head” (16).  This profound ending is ironic because the reader is initially more inclined to regard Richard Cory not as a person who would commit suicide, but rather as the “people on the pavement” regarded him to be: regal, endowed, and refined (2).  Though the end of “In the Suburbs” does not contain such irony, both poems contain a shift in their final stanzas.  In “In the Suburbs,” the tone shifts from pessimistic to submissive by Simpson’s addition that “others before you / Were born to walk in procession” (5).  In “Richard Cory”, the tone shifts from one of pride and cheerfulness to one of sorrow.  Nonetheless, both poems suggest that someone’s life may not always be as it seems, and that life can be filled with emptiness despite all the possessions and adequacies that one may have.

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In Simpson’s “In the Suburbs,” the reader is introduced to the idea of dreadfulness with the line “There’s no way out” (1).  This line creates suspense for the reader – something that both Simpson and Robinson do effectively in their poems – by implying a prison-like lifestyle.  Both poets create suspense through their use of similar syntactical strategies such as anaphora.  For example, Robinson uses anaphora when writing “And he was always quietly arrayed / And he was always human when he walked” (5).  He does this to emphasize to the reader that Richard Cory is not condescending or snobby, ...

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