Edwin Arlington Robinson, in his poems Richard Cory, Miniver Cheevy, and Mr.Flood’s party, critiques men who believe that the external world determines their fate rather than their internal selves.
The men in the three poems blame external factors for their failed pursuits. The men in Richard Cory think “that [Richard Cory is] everything to make [them] wish that we were in his place” (ll. 11-2). Because of Richard Cory, the men acknowledge their commonness “curse...the bread”(l. 14) on their plates, being jealous instead of motivated. The men assume that Cory is the epitome of happiness, but his suicide shows that he was just as jealous and envious of the common men and they were of him--Cory prefers to commit suicide over trying to change. In Miniver Cheevy, Miniver “sigh[s] for what [is] not” (l. 9), idealizing other people’s glorious histories instead of his daily life. Because he envies those in history, he “curse[s] the commonplace” (l. 21) as if it has control over him. In Mr. Flood’s Party, Mr. Flood sets down his jug as carefully “as a
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He shows that these men choose to only watch others succeed, to work, to drink, and therefore to mourn what fate has not given them. By showing these men failing by their own hand, Robinson demonstrates that one’s own hand can also lead to success. He shows that the though the men “thought, and thought, and thought, and thought” (ll. 27-8)about what they wanted, they never acted on their desires, and this led them to never emerge from their depressions. Even Cory, though thoroughly admired, seemed to suffer the same fate as common men, demonstrated through his suicide based on his conformity to his role. Robinson uses these men to condemn the idea that external forces control people--he promotes innovation and motivation within society based on the belief free-will instead of jealousy and ignorance based on the belief of