The poem Richard Cory by Edwin Arlington Robinson is one of these works which overthrow readers’ expectations. At the very beginning, the main character is presented as a successful and wealthy man who can afford anything he wants. Richard is envied by people he meets every day in the streets who think that “he was everything to make us wish that we were in his place.” Nevertheless, the final line completely changes the situation by showing the unexpected ending, where Richard decided to kill himself. This poem teaches a valuable lesson that making judgments about people is inappropriate because wealth does not make a person happy and free of mental problems.
The narration in She Dwelt among the Untrodden Ways by William Wordsworth is full of sorrowful details, which display the author’s grief about the maiden’s death. He emphasizes the fact that while Lucy’s beauty deserved praise and adoration, unfortunately, she lived in isolation, and there was no one else to cherish it. By comparing her with violet on a mossy stone or a single star in the sky, the author tells that she was truly unique in her charm. Despite the sad fact that very few knew her, he managed to immortalize Lucy so her beauty could live in this poem even after her death.
There is no doubt that the main character’s story in Barbie Doll by Marge Piercy is dark and depressing. However, this is the type of narrative that many modern girls can relate to. The young woman is forced to comply with stereotypes from her birth when she is gifted with dolls and GE stoves. As the girl grows up, she is incapable of escaping other people’s judgments. While the girl has an enormous amount of good qualities, society seemed to focus on appearance and see “a fat nose on thick legs.” The tragic ending is displaying a common attitude, according to which women can only be accepted when they meet certain standards even if it costs them their life.