What is the theme of the poem "Richard Cory " and what we can learn from it?

"" byis a poem composed of four
quatrains rhymed ABAB. It is a narrative poem, written in the first person plural, with the
narrative "we" representing the voice of the poorer people in the town. The eponymous
Richard Cory appears to be a wealthy gentleman living slightly outside town, probably on a large
estate. The townspeople regard Richard Cory as an iconic figure, very different from themselves,
and although he appears to be polite and not ostentatious, his manners and deportment seem quite
alien, smooth, polished, graceful and unlike those common in town. The people of the town envy
his wealth and his polish, and wish they were more like him. The final lines of the poem
are: 

And Richard Cory, one calm summer
night,

Went home and put a bullet through his head.

 

No explanation is offered for this
suicide. What this suggests is that the townspeople's understanding of Richard Cory was quite
superficial, based only on external appearances. They assumed that his life was happy because he
had material wealth; this assumption proved false. The main theme of the poem is that we cannot
know people simply by seeing them walk down the street and occasionally indulging in polite
small talk. A second theme is that wealth does not necessarily bring
happiness.