May 7, 2015

Pre-AP English I

Mrs. Wiersig

 

Richard Cory and JS/07/M/378: Unknown Citizens and Souls

 

“Richard Cory” by Edwin Arlington Robinson and “The Unknown Citizen” by W. H. Auden are both deep representations of the differences between appearance and reality. Robinson’s poem focuses on the life of a well-known citizen, his habits, and his underlying depression from the point of view of his fellow civilian. Meanwhile, Auden’s poem focuses on an unknown citizen’s government-pleasing qualities and achievements from the point of view of a government official. The soul-masking themed poems can be compared on the basis of their themes, points of view, and ironic outcomes.

Both poems share a common theme that a mask of false success and normalcy can hide depressions and insecurities. The speaker in “Richard Cory” recalls him as “a gentleman from sole to crown”, “always quietly arrayed”, and “richer than a king”, a man who had his life in order, was happy, and successful. Similarly, in “The Unknown Citizen”, the speaker praises the man for his normalcy and accomplishment o living his life “correctly”, for serving “The Greater Community” and for not being “odd in his views”. In both cases, the men were hiding behind a façade of perfection, conforming to the public, governmental, and societal idea of “good” and “right”, while underneath, contemplating “putting bullets through their heads”, the questions of “Was he free? Was he happy?” being “absurd”. In this way, both works depict the falsehood of an outward appearance of success in the presence of the reality of insecurity.

While both poems share similar themes, they differ in points of view of their speakers. For instance, the speaker of “Richard Cory” is a less-privileged citizen, and average man or woman who idolizes the “clean-favored”, and “pulse-fluttering” Richard Cory. Due to this close-up observation of Cory’s public behaviors, the speaker becomes slightly more personal than in “The Unknown Citizen”, causing Cory to appear more unique, an individual.Contrastingly, the unknown citizen is cast as a conforming, opinionless, “Modern Man” by the speaker, a government official with Bureaucratic views. While Richard Cory is characterized as friendly through his habit of saying, “Good morning”, the citizen is characterized only by his government-pleasing qualities, meeting requirements of the perfect man, a model citizen, a “saint”. While both speakers dwell on outward appearances and actions, leaving souls aside, the speaker of “Richard Cory” delves a little deeper into the personality of Cory than Mr. Bureaucracy does to the unknown citizen.

Furthermore, both poems can be compared on their ironic outcomes of a seemingly perfect-lived man being inwardly depressed, even to the point of suicide. Due to the speakers’ failure to capture Richard Cory’s soul and the unknown citizen’s soul, the underlying feelings of the men aren’t revealed until the end of the poems: Cory “out a bullet through his head” and the unknown citizen was “happy” or else “we should certainly have heard”, or more likely depressed and insecure. The men’s conformation because of insecurity contributes to hiding their inner selves; Cory was “admirably schooled in every grace” and thought of as everything, and the unknown citizen was “one against whom there was no official complaint”. This causes the abruptness of irony, shocking the reader when Cory “put a bullet through his head” and the unknown citizen’s feelings being forced to be only outward, “everything he did”, not everything he though or felt. Without each poems speaker, ironic outcome would be impossible. Therefore, the poems are similar in ironic outcome because they are similar in speaker point of view.

Though the poems share topics and aspects of treatment in their themes, points of view, and ironic outcomes, they are distinct and individual. While “Richard Cory” is abrupt for the reader, “The Unknown Citizen” is calm and indifferent for all parties throughout. Although neither ever address the souls of their individuals, the true emotions and thoughts of the men are heavily implied. For this reason, despite their differences, both “Richard Cory” and “The Unknown Citizen” are parallel poems and both are strong portrayals of human feelings.