Analysis of Richard Cory

The next article that is given to us is the poem of Richard Cory. This poem is quite significant because the style of writing it uses is deceptively clever; it wants to hold the secret of the moral, but at the same time it wants the reader to find out the moral so they can learn its lesson. The purpose of the poem is for reader to use their own interpretation to find out what the poem wants to tell the reader. It is presenting the reader with all of the facts, but the reader must assemble them and learn something on the way, and when the puzzle is completed, the reader will have learned the valuable lesson that it was trying to teach.  The selections of facts that are included in this poem were included because of the nature of the poem of its self. Each fact has an underlying meaning that is for you to figure out, and for the poem to hide. The poem includes all of the facts for this very reason, to leave it open to interpretation. The writer gave us a clear description of what Richard Cory looked like, his manners; his habits, his education, and the way that the facts were presented to us were intended to make the reader think that he had everything, as if he was above humanity.  The arrangement of facts goes from his description down to his wealth and then all of a sudden, they climax to his death. I think that the facts are also given in the order presented because in that order, the reader can start to doubt Richard Cory’s happiness and then realize in the end what was wrong throughout the whole story. The diction of words used tells us that Richard Cory was almost godlike to the people; description of him being “imperially slim” and “richer than a king” tells us that he was a god to the people, and they made him an outcast while trying to imitate him. I think that the tone of the author was sarcastic because of the way that the author makes Richard Cory the coolest man in the world, and then Richard Cory just goes out without a blaze.

The last and final piece of writing is the most unique and peculiar to me because of a couple of reasons. The main reason that it intrigues me is the fact that in the medical report there is very little information besides the graphic and violent description of his death and the wound. This is interesting because it causes me to question why the writer would just include gore and blood in the report and nothing else about the life of Richard Cory. My question lead me to believe that the purpose of the medical report is not to just inform us about the death and the description of the entry and exit wound of the bullet in Richard Cory, but to hint at the fact that Richard Cory lived a extremely violent life. He died a very violent death, and I think that this is reflecting on the fact that he must have lived a violent life or he had a violent struggle within himself. The selections of facts presented to us are just the facts that include his death.  The arrangement of facts presented to us is very simple but intricate to the last detail.  The first couples of facts given are simple, not so bad, they just describe the bullet, but as you read on, the facts more descriptive and sicker. I think this order represents the fact that as his life went on, more violent events seemed to occur internally.  The diction of words used show a feeling of cold sickness; it’s as if the person who diagnosed the body had no feelings, just empty coldness. The tone of the author seems to be chilling. It makes the death of Richard Cory seem like it was a pawn in a game of a sicko. This effect of the tone gives the entire outlook of the story a grim and dark or devious feeling. The author shows us the tone by using the appropriate word choice, and the fact that the article is a medical report makes it all the worse.

In the end we can see a much clear pitchure of the event, and what really happened.  All three of these publications describe the same incident, yet they all make us think in completely different and individually unique methods.  The first newspaper article makes the reader think that a murder has been committed because of the bias shown towards an impossible suicide. In the second article, anything is possible since the poem was designed to have the reader sweat a little and it forces the reader to conclude upon his or her own interpretation of certain key facts. In the final and the third article, a medical report, we see that there seems to be a dark side to Richard Cory’s seemingly perfect life. These three articles definitely show us that each different and idiosyncratic viewpoint is a viewpoint ot be considered.