Individual vs. Society

Paper Summary:

This paper reviews a number of literary works as they relate to the conflict between the individual and the group, between the individual and his or her society. Many writers delve into this theme in different terms, but often the conflict can be discerned in terms of class differences. The writer uses pieces of poetry, prose and drama to delve into this issue and explore the racial and class differences faced by individuals within each society. The literature analyzed includes: Edwin Arlington Robinson's "Richard Cory", "Barn Burning" by William Faulkner, Ellison's "The Invisible Man" and a number of short stories by Sherwood Anderson.

From the Paper:

"One of the major poems suggesting first that there is a sense of social class in America and second that the hierarchy masks reality is Edwin Arlington Robinson's "Richard Cory." In this poem, one of the favored of the town, someone whom everyone looks up to and who seems to have everything that everyone else wants, proves that we can never really be sure of what is going on in the life or mind of another person:And Richard Cory, one calm summer night, Went home and put a bullet through his head.."

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