Simon and Garfunkel's song - “Richard Cory”
The song “Richard Cory” by Simon and Garfunkel is about a rich and powerful man who has everything at his disposal. This man lives in a town in which most of the inhabitants are of the lower financial class, thereby, placing Richard Cory on a pedestal. Everybody in the town looks up to him and wants to be like him because of this benevolence and good nature. But at the end of the song, Richard Cory puts a bullet in his head, killing himself. By looking at his family background, how he gave jobs to people of the town, and his charitable nature as a wealthy man, we can see that Richard Cory was honest, good, and upfront about his life, which most people don’t see; this is important because he was…show more content… His wealth and influence in the town was shown in his connection to politicians. But some of the words in the song by Simon and Garfunkel gave meaning which were beyond dictionary definition. This can be seen in the nobility and royal image portrayed in the name of Richard Cory. English royals have shown us that, the name Richard has been used by many kings in England. Richard also contains the word which everyone wants to be associated with “rich”, which is linked to his wealth and affluence. Some of the words also give the exact meaning which portrays the image of Richard Cory as a local king. He was “born into society, a banker’s only child, He had everything a man could want: power, grace, and style” brings into the mind some of the direct meaning in the song that shows his wealth. To all, Richard Cory is a man without blemish, a perfect man on the…show more content… His life appears to be perfect and flamboyant and they all want to be like him. But in actual fact, Richard Cory was in a mess, not happy, a product of having everything in life and ironically, he killed himself because of unhappiness. With his suicide, Richard Cory shows that having even the greatest financial standing and status in life does not mean that a person has everything needed for a fulfilling life. This trend has been a normal event in the life of most people in recent decades, especially in pop culture. We tend to look up to actors and musicians and and wish we were like them having all the money and fame with people trooping on us where ever we go. But when we look into the media, both print and television, all we see is suicide and rehabilitation new concerning those celebrities that we had idolized