Richard Cory, By Kate Chopin
The beauty of literature is that the author can employ whatever device he sees fit to entertain and hopefully provoke meaningful thought within the reader. What the reader might expect to happen often times can be correct, but many times the author will use irony to completely change the outcome of a story. The use of irony will pout to bed any assumptions that the reader has made while reading the story and will most often occur at the end of the story itself. Often times the author is trying to convey their own personal stance on an issue by using irony. “Knowing that Mrs. Mallard was afflicted with heart trouble, great care was taken to break to her as gently as possible the news of her husband’s death” (Chopin 307). “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin begins as bluntly as it ends. The reader knows
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Richard is described as “richer than a king” (line 9), however despite his wealth, “he was always quietly arrayed,/And he was always human when he talked” (5-6). This indicates that Cory was a very “down-to-earth” person, and did not see himself as better than anybody else. It was assumed by all of the townspeople that admired Richard that he had it all; that he had no more to gain and was perfectly content. The two ending lines would beg to differ. “And Richard Cory, one calm summer night,/Went home and put a bullet through his head” (15-16). The irony of the poe being that Cory was very discontent and—although not directly stated—was probably lonely due to the isolation that was brought on by his wealth. Robinson, through Richard Cory, is providing a commentary on the uselessness of money as an abdicator of happiness. On the outside, it was as though Richard Cory had everything in the world, but the wealth of the physical body does not necessarily indicate wealth of the
Richard is described as “richer than a king” (line 9), however despite his wealth, “he was always quietly arrayed,/And he was always human when he talked” (5-6). This indicates that Cory was a very “down-to-earth” person, and did not see himself as better than anybody else. It was assumed by all of the townspeople that admired Richard that he had it all; that he had no more to gain and was perfectly content. The two ending lines would beg to differ. “And Richard Cory, one calm summer night,/Went home and put a bullet through his head” (15-16). The irony of the poe being that Cory was very discontent and—although not directly stated—was probably lonely due to the isolation that was brought on by his wealth. Robinson, through Richard Cory, is providing a commentary on the uselessness of money as an abdicator of happiness. On the outside, it was as though Richard Cory had everything in the world, but the wealth of the physical body does not necessarily indicate wealth of the