What do you think is the reason why Richard Cory committed suicide?

Answer 1

Richard Cory is a poem, describing a fictional character who is wealthy, refined, and polite, but never condescending. Townspeople admire him because he is rich, but by showing him such deference, they deprive him of their companionship and friendship. Richard Cory was a lonely man. He had no love, and no friends. He was financially rich, but socially destitute, and ultimately commited suicide.

Answer 2

Richard Cory may have committed suicide due to a combination of internal struggles, such as feelings of emptiness or isolation despite his material wealth and external admiration. It's also possible that the pressure of maintaining his reputation and living up to societal expectations became overwhelming for him.

Answer 3

He couldn't take the disparity between his lifestyle and that of the people who worked for him any more. Look at the third and fourth stanzas: And he was rich, yes, richer than a king,

And admirably schooled in every grace:

In fine -- we thought that he was everything

To make us wish that we were in his place. So on we worked and waited for the light,

And went without the meat and cursed the bread,

And Richard Cory, one calm summer night,

Went home and put a bullet in his head. (Or in the Simon and Garfunkel song...

But I work in his factory

And I curse the life I'm living

And I curse my poverty

And I wish that I could be

Oh I wish that I could be

Oh I wish that I could be

Richard Cory.)

But instead of actually DOING something to correct the disparity, like paying the people he employed a living wage, he went home and blew his brains out.