Richard Cory Essay

In the poem “Richard Cory,” written by Edwin Arlington Robinson, and “Glass Ceiling,” written by T.R. Hummer, the authors demonstrate a common event that happens in almost everyone’s life, which is shielding yourself from your true emotions, and this in return may lead to devastating consequences. When someone is hiding their true feelings, they are putting up a front to convince themselves and those around them that everything is fine, when in reality it isn’t. Robinson and Hummer have both clearly incorporated a common theme of shielding your true emotions, however, they convey the theme in a way that is different from one another.

In the poem “Richard Cory,” Hummer tells the story from a third person point-of-view and shares the perspective

The speaker talks about his mother but gives her the identity of his grandmother. Mother’s are usually seen as strong women, which is maybe why the speaker described his mother in such a way:”Because if I’d said ‘my mother’ you wouldn’t believe a word of it, since a mother should be leading a research group, or running a software company…” The speaker is trying to convince the reader that the grandmother fired the shot, even though the mother had done it. He is once again masking her true identity.

In both poems, there seems to be a common misconception about the main characters. Richard Cory is thought of to be the ideal man in the eyes of the townspeople, but in reality, he isn’t. The speaker’s grandmother in “Glass Ceiling” is described as being very adventurous person, however, it is really the speaker’s mother. Their identities are masked in both poems partly for their own comfort, and for the people around them. Richard Cory avoided exposing his true identity so the townspeople wouldn’t see him as anything else than a perfect man. Moreover, both authors shield the identity of the main character.

Furthermore, the poems “Richard Cory” and “Glass Ceiling,” both share a common theme: shielding your true emotions from society. The authors convey this theme in ways that are similar and also differ from each