Exploring the similarities and differences in two poems, W. H. Auden’s “The Unknown Citizen” and Edwin Arlington Robinson’s “Richard Cory”, is done to demonstrate how both author’s subjects are assumed to be happy, yet each is isolated in a unique way. The poems individually present external facts about each character, and the authors use the different narrators in the poems to illustrate the viewpoint of someone slightly removed. This characterizes the separation between the protagonists and the supporting characters, and leads toward a conclusion that, at times, people do not care beyond surface details. Given the twist ending in Robinson’s poem, and the plain statistics in Auden’s, any reader would be hard-pressed to find discernible happiness
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He is well educated and well mannered, and he is incredibly rich. Cory dresses in fine clothing, and wants for nothing; his life is a stark contrast to the lives of the townspeople with whom he interacts. This detailed description gives a glimpse of how glamourous and satisfying his life seems to be. Similarly, the unknown citizen is described using information about his life, but in a much more depersonalized way. Auden describes him as a family man who does not disappoint. He is faceless, just another government statistic sitting in a stack on someone’s desk. Both authors have so far written their characters as people who have seemingly sanguine – or at least fulfilled – …show more content…
His riches are far beyond the townspeople’s, but Robinson never hints at a possible hatred from the townspeople aimed at Cory as a result of their differences. However, there is also no mention of any real connections between Cory and these people. “He fluttered pulses when he [spoke]… and he glittered when he walked”, as Robinson pens in lines 7 and 8. They fawn over him as though he were a celebrity, but Robinson does not include details of any friends Cory has, or conversations deeper than passing starry-eyed remarks. As human as Richard Cory is, no one treats him as such, which may be part of the reason for his eventual self-inflicted demise. He is simply lonely. Every detail given about Cory is from the perspective and mindset of someone too distant to notice this wealthy man’s inner
He is well educated and well mannered, and he is incredibly rich. Cory dresses in fine clothing, and wants for nothing; his life is a stark contrast to the lives of the townspeople with whom he interacts. This detailed description gives a glimpse of how glamourous and satisfying his life seems to be. Similarly, the unknown citizen is described using information about his life, but in a much more depersonalized way. Auden describes him as a family man who does not disappoint. He is faceless, just another government statistic sitting in a stack on someone’s desk. Both authors have so far written their characters as people who have seemingly sanguine – or at least fulfilled – …show more content…
His riches are far beyond the townspeople’s, but Robinson never hints at a possible hatred from the townspeople aimed at Cory as a result of their differences. However, there is also no mention of any real connections between Cory and these people. “He fluttered pulses when he [spoke]… and he glittered when he walked”, as Robinson pens in lines 7 and 8. They fawn over him as though he were a celebrity, but Robinson does not include details of any friends Cory has, or conversations deeper than passing starry-eyed remarks. As human as Richard Cory is, no one treats him as such, which may be part of the reason for his eventual self-inflicted demise. He is simply lonely. Every detail given about Cory is from the perspective and mindset of someone too distant to notice this wealthy man’s inner