5-6-15

“The Unknown Citizen” and “Richard Cory” are both powerful poems that both feature a strong message. Auden’s poem speaks about an average, well-liked, and perfect citizen and describes to the reader how the government views him, while Robinson’s poem depicts a man who is idolized by his peers, but who feels detached and empty on the inside. It is noticeable to the reader that Robinson’s poem begins where Auden’s ends, a matter that plays a role in both the similarities and differences between the two poems. The theme of appearance may be depicted by the two poems through characterization, point of view, and ironic outcome.
“Richard Cory,” as well as “The Unknown Citizen,” both speak about a particular citizen who’s characterization directly conveys the theme of appearance vs. reality. For example, in “The Unknown Citizen,” Auden characterizes the perfect citizen who “in everything he did he served the Greater Community.” This “Greater Community” that Auden speaks about happens to be the state and government, who pretty much ruled over this “Unknown Citizen,” even to the extent of a form of brainwash. The state addresses the citizen as “JS/07/M/378.” This classification by the means of a jumbled form of letters and numbers, which characterize this average citizen, depict to the reader how the unknown citizen’s soul was not taken into consideration by the state. The constant battle to be the perfect citizen for the state eventually lead to death for the citizen. The unknown citizen’s death, along with his characterization by the state, both challenge the importance of appearance. In “Richard Cory,” Robinson similarly characterizes another person by the name of Richard Cory, who was characterized by his peers as being known as a “gentleman from sole to crown.” Those around him both idolized him and envied him, even to the point of them wishing they were him. However, Richard Cory’s characterization, along with the characterization of the “Unknown Citizen,” both portray how appearance and reality can be total opposites. Richard Cory may have been rich, even “richer than a king,” but in reality Richard Cory was troubled on the inside, and society was blinded to his real needs. These similarities between the characterizations of “The Unknown Citizen” and “Richard Cory,” along with their eventual deaths, both challenge the importance of appearance and show how appearance can hide true feelings on the inside.
The differing point of views of the two poems also depict the importance of appearance. In “The Unknown Citizen,” the point of view of the citizen was that of the state, along with their “Social Psychology workers.” Auden describes to the reader how the state viewed the unknown citizen as a “saint,” who had “no official complaint.” By saint, Auden does not mean that of a religious status, but a citizen who’s appearance appeared to serve the government in everything he did. The “researchers into Public Opinion,” were also “content that he held the proper opinions for the time of year.” This conveys how the unknown citizen went above and beyond to make sure his appearance pleased the state, even kicking his own opinions to the curb. The poem “Richard Cory,” highlighted a different point of view, which were the peers of Richard Cory, who “went without the meat, and cursed the bread,” conveying how those not as wealthy as Cory idolized him because of his wealthiness. Robinson describes how Richard Cory “fluttered pulses,” and how those who viewed him “thought that he was everything.” However, by seeing the interactions of Richard Cory and the point of view of the poem, the reader is able to get a sense that Richard Cory didn’t really have any relationships with anyone. This proves that the perfect appearance doesn’t always mean the perfect reality. Both poems feature two different point of views, but both point of views translate to the reader the theme of appearance.
Both poems outline a similar ironic outcome, which plays the biggest role in challenging the importance of appearance. In the “Unknown Citizen,” the “Modern man’ who “had everything necessary,” eventually could not bare the wear and tear of being a slave to routine and ended up having the similar outcome to that of “Richard Cory,” being death. Auden paints the picture for the reader to not pity this “Unknown Citizen” because he had the ability to just say no to the state and Bureaucraft and express his own actions, in order to define an appearance true to himself. Instead, he put more time into being the perfect citizen for the state and being “fully sensible’ to their needs, which eventually led to a death that beheld a false identity. Similarly, In “Richard Cory,” there was also an ironic outcome that happened to be death. The “clean favored and imperially slim” and high class Richard Cory eventually couldn’t handle the emptiness, loneliness, and absence of freedom anymore, leading him to “put a bullet through his head.” The suicide of Richard Cory conveys to the reader that what people think means to have everything, doesn’t always mean everything, and that appearance doesn’t always display truth, as Richard Cory’s death would testify. The similar ironic outcomes in both poems declare that appearance and reality are two different affairs, and both the ironic deaths challenge the importance of appearance.
Therefore, both poems include both similarities and differences in their characterizations, point of views, and ironic outcomes, which all play factors in the eventual deaths of the two citizens. Through the death of Richard Cory, who was “admirably schooled in every grace,” along with his characterization by those around who viewed him, Robinsion was able to depict the importance of appearance. Likewise, through the death of the “Unknown Citizen,” along with his identification by the state, Auden was able to convey the difference between appearance and reality.