Richard Cory and The Atlantic
Can wealth bring fulfilment? It’s a question that could probably be answered using a mixture of permutations and combinations. Richard Cory and the Atlantic share similar views in that, they both address the unfulfilled desires of being content in life. In Richard Cory, a wealthy man has enough money to make most human beings happy, but for Richard Cory, it’s a source to unfulfilled desires. He was a gentleman to the core; he would wish all whom he saw with a good morning, and this amazed the people of the town. It was something that the town people would have least expected from a person as refined and rich as him. Therefore, it came as no surprise that the people of the town envied him for his personality and his wealth. They wanted to subscribe to his values and good manners, and for all that he had, he was their super human.
He also reports that he wouldn’t feel financially secure until he had $1 billion dollar in the bank (The Atlantic). In the Atlantic, there is a feeling among the rich that no matter how much money they had, it wasn’t enough to keep them happy or satisfied. A person with $1 million will never feel happy until he gets the next $1 million. Even then, the happiness will be short-lived, as he will soon strive to get the next $1 million. The crave for more money is like a cancer; it will continue to eat away whatever is left, and similarly, the satisfaction of becoming a millionaire will never satisfy him or her, till they become a billionaire. For the rich, the feeling that if they can make a million dollars, it wouldn’t take long for them to spend it either, because of which they feel financially insecure and chase the next million. They are never content with what they have.
Who would not admire a person who glitters like a jewel! Nevertheless, that inexplicable, irregular spasm and nervous confusion, that befalls him whenever he greets these people, disturbs this perfect image. No one had any doubt that Richard Cory was carrying a heavy burden in his mind every time he wished the town folks. And why should they? Richard Cory had all the wealth to last his a life time; he looked chirpy, and walked with an air of confidence. However, there did seem to bother him, and this was something a few of the town folks noticed.
And Richard Cory one calm summer night,
Went home and put a bullet through his head
What made him kill himself? It wasn’t the question of money, because he had more than enough to lead a luxurious life, but one thing that he didn’t have was a family. Nothing is written about his family, and he didn’t have any friends either. For a man of his upbringing, Richard Cory could easily have had friends. However, he chose to remain single and only had the occasional salutations with the people he met on the road. The poem, while keeping the reader guessing for clues to the puzzle of Richard’s suicide, does reveal the man’s loss and emptiness. Richard’s death can be seen as the failure of an individual beyond redemption. He had no sense of belonging.
Don’t work too hard for money, because it isn’t going to get you much if you ignored everything else. (The Atlantic, Kenny, page 9 of 10)
While money was nothing for Richard, for Kenny, it was the way to security. Money is contagious; the more you think about, the more you want it. The human mind isn’t programmed to be satisfied with what it has, but to crave for more. A person, who buys a $10,000 car, will never be happy with the feeling that his ambition to buy a car is finally resolved. As soon as he sees a friend buy a car that is far better than his, he will immediately start working out ways to buy a car better than his friend’s. In his pursuit of money to buy his next car, he forgets the world around him. If married, he forgets that he has a wife to support, or a family that wants his support. This can cause great pain later onfor the family may not wait for him for long, and could leave him with his dreams. Richard had all the riches that could have bought him anything he wanted, but that didn’t keep him happy. It was perhaps his isolation that forced him to take the extreme step. If money fails to provide financial security, it will also fail to provide emotional well-being.
Conclusion
On studying Richard Cory and The Atlantic, it is obvious that the two focus on money as a means, and money as security. However, both rightly point to the fact that money cannot be everything; there are far more important things than just money. A number of celebrities have money, but are they happy? No, they’re not, because each of them has some problem or other that money can’t buy. Celebrities committing suicide is not new and quite a few of them have become victims to drugs because of personal reasons.
Works Cited
Wood, Graeme. 'Secret Fears of the Super-Rich'. The Atlantic. N.p., 2011. Web. 7 Oct. 2014.
Robinson, Edwin Arlington, 'Richard Cory'. N.p., 2014. Web. 7 Oct. 2014.
