"Richard Cory appears to be a sugar coated bitter sweet." Although he happens to have everything that one would desire, something was buring him inside. Discuss this relevant to the poem Richard Cory.

The central theme of "Richard Cory" is the tragic disparity between Cory's outward appearance and his inward state. According to the speaker, Richard Cory is a man with an enviable life – clean-cut, well-educated, wealthy, noble, and charismatic. His very presence makes people's pulses race, and they all wish to trade places with him. However, the poem's famous twist in its final stanza describes how Richard Cory, without warning or explanation, takes his life one summer evening. That the poem ends here and does not delve into the reason behind Cory's suicide further underscores the phenomenon of one's public image existing in stark contrast to their private life. One can infer that, despite (or likely because of) Cory's perfect image, he suffered from severe psychological distress. The poem can therefore be read as a condemnation of society's penchant for celebrating wealth and status while ignoring or condemning people's hardships.

Crucially, Richard Cory's image as a demigod who "glittered when he walked" (8) is not necessarily cultivated by Cory himself. Indeed, the speaker notes that Cory "was quietly arrayed" and "was always human when he talked" (5-6). These details about Cory's appearance suggest that he approached his life with humility, grace, and perhaps even the desire to be part of the common crowd. It is the townspeople, the speaker suggests, who turned Cory into an idol. Cory's suicide can therefore be interpreted as a response to the public image that was thrust upon him, a reading that supports the poem's efforts to demystify outward appearance as a replica of one's mental or emotional state.