Richard Corey

This story is quite disturbing I must say. It spoke about a man named Richard Corey. This man was very much liked around the town that he lived in. He seemed friendly to all and he had a certain "glow" to him that made people attracted to him. He was rich, "And he was rich—yes, richer than a king," (Robinson) Although he was rich it did not seem that people envied his wealth. They seemed to think of him as a normal, nice person. He was just like all the others, only better. But, people did not see through his mask that he really was an unhappy person. One day he shot himself. I bet nobody saw that coming because he seemed like such a perfectly happy and rich person. But, even if people are rich and can by whatever they please that does not necessarily mean that they are happy people. This happens to be the case with Richard Corey. Thoreau would agree with this idea of materialism. Thoreau ditched his life in his writing "Walden" to live a simple life with only what is necessary to live. He did not believe you needed all the extra luxuries to live or even to be happy. He was against the idea of spending money on huge extravagant things. He though of it as a waste and could not bring true happiness. "Thoreau wanted to get back to the basics and live in the simplest manner possible so as not only to remove himself from those negative values he associated with a capitalist economy" (Wayne) By this quote it seemed that he put a sort of negative thought with the economy and spending money on such expensive things. So wrapping up this idea I believe Thoreau would be a man that would not be surprised by Richard Corey's suicide. Like some people may say, "Money cannot buy happiness." This is obviously the case in this poem. I do believe that Thoreau would agree with that phrase because in Walden when her abandoned society and lived on his own without luxuries he was not terribly sad.

Robinson, Edwin Arlington. "Richard Corey." Bartleby.com. Web. 6 Mar. 2012.
Wayne, Tiffany K. "Walden." Encyclopedia of Transcendentalism. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2006. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc.