From the outside one may appear to have everything but happiness does not come from wealth, it comes from within ones self and the narrator didn't take the time to really get to know Richard Cory enough to observe his inner thoughts. The novel The Great Gatsby is very similar in this way. There are obvious parallels in theme and subject from the poem “Richard Cory” and the book The Great Gatsby, such as position, true happiness, carelessness and the American Dream. I think the word that can sum up many of the themes in The Great Gatsby is position.
The word encompasses themes like class, wealth, social standing, and others. Gatsby's whole life is spent trying to attain money and status so that he can reach a certain positio
...n in life. That theme is similar to the theme of the poem “Richard Cory”, the factory workers, the lower class like Gatsby, look up to Richard Cory, the upper class like Tom and Daisy, and you are given a sense that they would do anything to be in his place or at least even with him in class and social stature.
Daisy and Tom show how people can use their position to look down on others and live their life carelessly. As Nick says about Daisy, "in a moment she looked at me with an absolute smirk on her lovely face as if she had asserted her membership in a rather distinguished secret society to which she and Tom belonged. "(page 17) It is this that allows them to do whatever they want, because for them there is no consequence, Tom cheats on hi
wife and Daisy cheats on Tom then runs from the murder of Myrtle, and after both can still live unashamed.
Richard Cory was high class, compared to the workers, and maybe he just couldn't live with him self anymore, maybe he wasn't truly happy, these people do not worry about paying for their actions so they do as they please and it could have just been that Mr. Cory's actions finally caught up to him, and he was so ashamed of himself he couldnt bare to live anymore. In both of the works Gatsby and Cory irony is the main literary element which proves that appearances can be deceiving. Gatsby lived a luxurious lifestyle and his parties were the envy of everyone.
People who didn’t even know him would make desperate attempts to receive an invitation to these extravagant parties. However what no one knew was the reason behind the festivities. Gatsby’s true purpose in life was to win the love of Daisy. He worked hard to attain his wealth through corrupt practices and eventually received a status worthy But neither of them are happy. They strive for true happiness and both can’t seem to get it quite right, and up dieing as a result of their failure to grasp it.
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