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Comment 25 of 25, added on November 4th, 2009 at 4:29 AM.
unknown cit
In W.H Auden’s “The Unknown Citizen”, written shortly after his arrival in America in 1939, Auden uses varied line length and rhyming couplets to create an absurd feeling to the poem, which satirises an average citizens law abiding life.
Written in the persona of a government employee or civil servant, the poem uses possessive pronouns such as ‘our social psychology workers’ and ‘our researchers’, implying control over all institutions, and also the citizen’s life.
Capitalisation is used when referring to the “Greater Community”, “Modern Man”, “Instalment Plan”, and “Public Opinion”, yet the citizen never receives the same honour, showing what the government truly values, which doesn’t include the individual.
The poem tells us about the citizen’s work history-he ‘worked in a factory and never got fired’, and also served in the war, an occupation the persona (or institution behind the persona) clearly value. Also mentioned are his private social habits, which found he was ‘popular with his mates and liked a drink’, showing the depth to which the government monitors their people, and alarming the reader. Auden’s inclusion of this line suggests to the reader that he does not approve of the citizen’s privacy invasion, and believes the government within the poem has taken their surveillance of society too far.
As the poem continues, the persona mentions that the citizen had ‘everything necessary to the Modern Man”, and then describes them as being “a radio, a car and a Frigidaire”, commodities, rather than personal happiness or love. Auden’s values shine through in those lines, showing he doesn’t believe material possessions to be more important than happiness.
The poem describes the man’s opinions as being ‘proper...for the time of year’, and stating that ‘when there was peace, he was for peace; when there was war, he went’, which conveys to the reader that the government values his conformity to the current social mores. Auden cleverly suggests to the reader through these lines that the citizen has been fed his opinions by society, and no longer can freely think and form his own opinions.
Next, the poem discusses the citizen’s five offspring, which were ‘the right number for a parent of his generation’. The ‘Eugenists’ mentioned, are pleased that the citizen has added ‘to the population’, regarding the children as possessions rather than people. The citizen is reported to have ‘never interfered with their education’, which further suggests to the reader the State’s ownership over them.
Throughout the poem, the citizen is unnamed, and subsequently loses his individuality, and is described as ‘normal in every way’, as well as not having ‘odd views’, showing his conformity to the State. The persona seems to revere his conformity, which subsequently sounds like a societal value. Auden cleverly mocks how anonymous the man has become by complying with these values.
The poem describes the man’s life in terms of what has been surveyed. Statements such as ‘all the reports on his conduct’ make the persona appear detached towards the citizen’s death. The detached tone of the persona, aid Auden’s point, as he implies throughout the poem that the government cannot know the individual wants and needs by merely looking at statistics. This point is further emphasised through the question “Was he free? Was he happy?” as it shows the persona cannot understand the concept of both happiness and freedom, as he responds with “the question is absurd”, and makes Auden’s strongest point- that an individual’s life and achievements cannot be evaluated simply using statistics.
yoyo from Australia
Comment 24 of 25, added on November 4th, 2009 at 4:20 AM.
hey homies
‘THE UNKNOWN CITIZEN’
- Satirises grave of the unknown soldier- rep and tribute to all those who died/ were buried unidentified in war
- Ironic
- saint “modern”= one who has not blotted one’s copy book
- STRUCTURE
- Varied line length
- Rhyming couplets- almost nonsense poem type tone
- “fudge”- combination of ford and dodge- US car companies
- Bracketing of “our report...” makes it sound like every organisation is under scrutiny
- Persona- public servant/government representative of some sort
- Capitalisation- device that highlights the (self) importance of government divisions or plan
- Written march 1939
- Ticking the boxes, e.g. served the community, union, social habits are all categorised and (dis) approved
- ‘everything necessary to the Modern Man’= commodities
- Eugenist, eugenics, who can we make the population better? Preventing people from reproducing due to traits seen as ‘bad’, targets poor, disabled, popular social idea in America in the thirties and forties, notion of purifying/improving the population
- “And our teachers report that he never interfered with their education”
- Use of Possessive pronoun indicates precisely where the control lies
- Bewildered/bemused tone with the last two lines, suggests that important knowledge is theirs,
- Auden implies that such surveillance cannot reflect the heart’s desire
- Contrasts to the state’s vision of the ideal citizen as utterly compliant, with no free thinking
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yoyo from Australia
Comment 23 of 25, added on July 26th, 2006 at 1:47 PM.
This poem is about the anonymity of life.
To: Monika & katie,
What's up with the spelling and capitalization errors in your comments? I find it very distracting trying to wade through all the juvenile IM comments. Yes, I am an English teacher.
Randal from United States
Comment 22 of 25, added on July 26th, 2006 at 10:37 AM.
This poem reflects what used to be and still very much is the unknown soilder-fighting and kiling and dieing in vain, for his nation, but not really for any reason. Its about how people give up thier liberties and conform for luxeries and "frigidairs". "People who sacrifice liberty for security deserve nither" ML. King, Auden's point. It is a mock of north american life and i beleive it applys to us piticulary, and more and more, as our "reactions" to the media are typical, in the scence that we take in all of the story and not enough of the truth. We should all question what were told criticaly before making conclusions, and in by doing so take back our power and liberties!
katie from Canada
Comment 21 of 25, added on June 19th, 2006 at 4:08 PM.
have you ever thought about connection with totalitarism? look at '1984' by Orwell, or 'Brave New World' by Auden. can you see any linkages?
Monika from Poland
Comment 20 of 25, added on June 15th, 2006 at 2:13 AM.
I'm currently writing an essay on this brilliantly subversive poem. I believe Auden influenced George Orwell's work "Ninety Eighty-Four" as well as Huxley's "Brave New World" and a slew of movies of recent years! I believe the JS stands for John Smith [your 'average Joe' in english terms!] and I was tickled to see a similar de-personalising referencing system in 1984 for the lead character Winston Smith.
Lisa Laurence from South Africa
Comment 19 of 25, added on May 8th, 2006 at 1:25 PM.
the poem is fantastic in describing people as tools of the state despite being somewhat dehumanising. i am pleased to say, as a youngster that we are creative children of the revolution and that this description does not apply to modern day. not in my bubble anyway.
donnie
Comment 18 of 25, added on May 3rd, 2006 at 4:17 PM.
had good meaning but didn't have good feeling
Brandon
Comment 17 of 25, added on May 3rd, 2006 at 10:38 AM.
i had to read this peom a few times to figure out that this unknown citizen wasn't the model american. but a conformist to what the government and the social system want us to believe. All of us are rapped up in every way to what other people think about us. I find myself being the same way. Is there any hope for todays society? i can only pray that there will be
Unknown Citizen from United States
Comment 16 of 25, added on March 10th, 2006 at 12:54 PM.
Well this poem was quiteintresting and also quite well thought of well it was all so grose and disturbing!
Thorne from United States
This poem has been commented on more than 10 times. Click below to see the other comments.
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In W.H Auden’s “The Unknown Citizen”, written shortly after his arrival in America in 1939, Auden uses varied line length and rhyming couplets to create an absurd feeling to the poem, which satirises an average citizens law abiding life.
Written in the persona of a government employee or civil servant, the poem uses possessive pronouns such as ‘our social psychology workers’ and ‘our researchers’, implying control over all institutions, and also the citizen’s life.
Capitalisation is used when referring to the “Greater Community”, “Modern Man”, “Instalment Plan”, and “Public Opinion”, yet the citizen never receives the same honour, showing what the government truly values, which doesn’t include the individual.
The poem tells us about the citizen’s work history-he ‘worked in a factory and never got fired’, and also served in the war, an occupation the persona (or institution behind the persona) clearly value. Also mentioned are his private social habits, which found he was ‘popular with his mates and liked a drink’, showing the depth to which the government monitors their people, and alarming the reader. Auden’s inclusion of this line suggests to the reader that he does not approve of the citizen’s privacy invasion, and believes the government within the poem has taken their surveillance of society too far.
As the poem continues, the persona mentions that the citizen had ‘everything necessary to the Modern Man”, and then describes them as being “a radio, a car and a Frigidaire”, commodities, rather than personal happiness or love. Auden’s values shine through in those lines, showing he doesn’t believe material possessions to be more important than happiness.
The poem describes the man’s opinions as being ‘proper...for the time of year’, and stating that ‘when there was peace, he was for peace; when there was war, he went’, which conveys to the reader that the government values his conformity to the current social mores. Auden cleverly suggests to the reader through these lines that the citizen has been fed his opinions by society, and no longer can freely think and form his own opinions.
Next, the poem discusses the citizen’s five offspring, which were ‘the right number for a parent of his generation’. The ‘Eugenists’ mentioned, are pleased that the citizen has added ‘to the population’, regarding the children as possessions rather than people. The citizen is reported to have ‘never interfered with their education’, which further suggests to the reader the State’s ownership over them.
Throughout the poem, the citizen is unnamed, and subsequently loses his individuality, and is described as ‘normal in every way’, as well as not having ‘odd views’, showing his conformity to the State. The persona seems to revere his conformity, which subsequently sounds like a societal value. Auden cleverly mocks how anonymous the man has become by complying with these values.
The poem describes the man’s life in terms of what has been surveyed. Statements such as ‘all the reports on his conduct’ make the persona appear detached towards the citizen’s death. The detached tone of the persona, aid Auden’s point, as he implies throughout the poem that the government cannot know the individual wants and needs by merely looking at statistics. This point is further emphasised through the question “Was he free? Was he happy?” as it shows the persona cannot understand the concept of both happiness and freedom, as he responds with “the question is absurd”, and makes Auden’s strongest point- that an individual’s life and achievements cannot be evaluated simply using statistics.
yoyo from Australia