Have you ever wanted to trade places with another person? In the poem, “Richard Corey” by Edwin A Robinson, the townspeople wanted to trade places with a gentleman named Richard Corey. People were jealous of him and wished they could be in his place, but one day, to everyone's surprise, Richard Corey committed suicide. The theme in Richard Corey, is that appearances can be deceiving.
The beginning introduces Richard Corey from the first person point of view of the townspeople. Using this point of view, we get the sense Richard Corey appeared better than everyone else. Using the phrase, “We people on the pavement looked at him,” Edwin uses imagery to symbolize Richard’s higher status than the rest of the townspeople. The line, “He was a …show more content…
Richard is,“quietly arrayed”, which suggests he didn’t try to attract attention to himself. Edwin uses the phrases, “human when he talked” and, “fluttered pulses” to establish that he didn’t talk like he was better than anyone else, but the townspeople were still excited and nervous when he talked to them. The author also says that the townspeople thought that he was attractive and stood out, with the phrase, “glittered while he walked.”
Then the speaker talks about how rich Richard was and that the townspeople were jealous. “rich--yes, richer than a king,” is a Hyperbole because Richard probably wouldn’t have more money than a king, but it shows that the townspeople viewed him with respect and envy. The author also shows that the townspeople are jealous by saying, “In fine, we thought that he was everything, To make us wish that we were in his place.”
The last stanza reveals the theme, Appearances can be deceiving, when Richard dies. “Waited for the light,” means that the people waited for when they could be rich and well liked like Richard. The fact that he shot himself, “One calm summer night,” shows that it was unexpected and that nothing seemed wrong before. It uses irony that the townspeople worked to try to become like Richard Corey, and Richard shot himself in the head. It shows how different the points of view of the townspeople and Richard Corey
The beginning introduces Richard Corey from the first person point of view of the townspeople. Using this point of view, we get the sense Richard Corey appeared better than everyone else. Using the phrase, “We people on the pavement looked at him,” Edwin uses imagery to symbolize Richard’s higher status than the rest of the townspeople. The line, “He was a …show more content…
Richard is,“quietly arrayed”, which suggests he didn’t try to attract attention to himself. Edwin uses the phrases, “human when he talked” and, “fluttered pulses” to establish that he didn’t talk like he was better than anyone else, but the townspeople were still excited and nervous when he talked to them. The author also says that the townspeople thought that he was attractive and stood out, with the phrase, “glittered while he walked.”
Then the speaker talks about how rich Richard was and that the townspeople were jealous. “rich--yes, richer than a king,” is a Hyperbole because Richard probably wouldn’t have more money than a king, but it shows that the townspeople viewed him with respect and envy. The author also shows that the townspeople are jealous by saying, “In fine, we thought that he was everything, To make us wish that we were in his place.”
The last stanza reveals the theme, Appearances can be deceiving, when Richard dies. “Waited for the light,” means that the people waited for when they could be rich and well liked like Richard. The fact that he shot himself, “One calm summer night,” shows that it was unexpected and that nothing seemed wrong before. It uses irony that the townspeople worked to try to become like Richard Corey, and Richard shot himself in the head. It shows how different the points of view of the townspeople and Richard Corey