Richard Cory's got a lot of things: money, good looks, nice clothes, a gentlemanly attitude. The speaker of the poem makes sure that we know about all those things. But we never hear about Richard Cory's relationships with others. Does he have a girlfriend? A bro? A beloved great aunt? A sweet pooch to take for long walks? We doubt it. We also doubt that the poem would end as it does, with R.C.'s death, if he did have those things. Did Richard Cory's isolation lead to his suicide? The poem doesn't spell it out for us explicitly, but we are leaning toward a yes on that one.
Questions About Isolation
- How/where does the poem describe the distance between Richard and the townspeople?
- Do you think that we can learn a lot about Richard Cory's life by interpreting what the poem doesn't tell us about it? What doesn't the poem say about ol' R.C.?
- Do you think that Richard was lonely and isolated, and that this isolation was the ultimate cause of his suicide? What parts of the poem support your answer?
Chew on This
The absence of Richard's loved ones from the poem suggests that he, in fact, had no loved ones. That sad, sad isolation was the reason for his suicide.
The poem subtly suggests that Richard is different from the people of the town, but that's no reason to think that he killed himself because of isolation. Mr. C.'s death is a total mystery.