05/04/15

“Richard Cory” and “The Unknown Citizen” are both compelling and influential poems that show how people misinterpret appearance. Edwin Arlington Robinson’s short poem describes the life of a particular man, Richard Cory, through the eyes of people who envy and idolize his greatness. However, Richard, not feeling great, is filled with sorrow and emptiness that the people can’t see because they are blinded by what seems to be real. In the same way, W. H. Auden’s poem describes a particular man, who is modern and average to Government eyes, but in reality has no scope to develop his identity. Society is ridiculed into thinking that mental obedience, the status quo, and enslaved routines are what’s right. Both poets illustrate their ideas of appearance through the similarities of the poem’s theme, through society’s perspective, and the characterization of Richard Cory and the unknown citizen.

Both poems express the idea of misleading the reality of appearance, which allows both poem’s themes to be similar. In Robinson’s poem, people admire the handsome and wealthy, Richard Cory, to the left and right they idolize in awe, blinded from the real person he is. For example, people wished to be, “in his place,” because, “he was rich — yes, richer than a king.” people desired to become who they think he is, because they, “thought he was everything.” Society’s idea of who Richard is, by his looks, wealth, or supposed happiness, does not show what he truly feels. The poet suggests that appearance is misleading to those who don’t view the inside and understand the materialized man. In addition, in Auden’s poem, the unknown citizen is serving the Government because of his loss of individuality. The citizen, someone who is seen as he, “had everything necessary to the Modern Man,” and was seen as nothing more because of his personality to obey in mental slavery. The poet implies that the man is so indifferent to society that they don’t see the true person inside, like Richard Cory. Both Robinson and Auden have related themes because they both believe in the same idea of a true understanding of individuality.

Another similarity between the two poems is society’s perspective of both men’s misleading appearance. Robinson’s poem is told from the perspective of someone who idolized what they thought was the true Richard Cory. For example, the community observed the royal and admirable, Richard, as, “a gentleman from sole to crown,” and his identity to be, “schooled in every grace.” However, the community has missed the chance to ever know the real person inside that was broken and disconnected from reality. The poet expresses the dissatisfaction of Richard and his loss of freedom because of what society didn’t see when they looked at the envied Richard Cory. In the same way, Auden’s poem is told from the perspective of the Government, who are blinded by what they see as a “Modern Man.” For example, The Federal Bureaucrat describes him as, “a saint, For in everything he did he served the greater community.” The Government has derided society into thinking indifferently of the unknown man. They believe that the average person should want to be a slave to routine, the government, and the community. The poet emphasizes how society views “average” citizens, and how the superficial world doesn’t take emotions into consideration. Both poems show that society’s perspective of the “materialistic” man and the “modern” man mislead people into not looking at a true person because of what they see and believe to be true.

Richard Cory and the unknown citizen are both characterized in similar ways, because they are classified as modern and materialistic men. Robinson’s description of Richard Cory is visual and unreal at the same time, because no person can truly be all that Richard is without at least one flaw. For example, Richard, a man who is, “clean favored, and imperially slim,” but what is hidden underneath the fancy clothes, happy demeanor, and undying wealth, is emptiness and depression. The poet characterizes Richard to emphasize the real person he is underneath the appearance and labeling of just-another-rich-guy. He is a man who, “put a bullet through his head,” because he was unsatisfied with a life of sorrow and isolation. In addition, Auden’s poem characterizes the unknown citizen by classifying him as an average man who serves the Government. The citizen, a normal man to society’s eyes, because, “he served the Greater Community… he worked in a factory and never got fired… he paid his dues.” To society, all this meant was that he did what he was “ordered” to do, so it characterized him, basically, as a slave. No man ever thought differently towards the citizen because of his loss of individuality and passion. Auden presents the characterization of the citizen to show how people categorize and classify ordinary people without knowing who the true person is. Both poets characterize Richard Cory and the unknown citizen by showing that people shouldn’t classify or label people because of what they believe is someone’s true character.

“Richard Cory” and “The Unknown Citizen” are two similar poems that present the importance of appearance through what is underneath and hidden from the naked eye. Both poems showed the similarities through the theme of appearance versus reality, society’s perspective, and characterization of the two men. Robinson emphasized idolization blinding people from reality, while Auden distributed the modern man being misunderstood. Through the many similarities of the two poems, people understand how to see people for who they truly are inside, and not by appearance.

Word Count: 924