What is the meaning of the poem The Unknown Citizen?
What is the meaning of the poem The Unknown Citizen?
“The Unknown Citizen” by W.H. Auden describes, through the form of a dystopian report, the life of an unknown man. By describing the “average citizen” through the eyes of various government organizations, the poem criticizes standardization and the modern state’s relationship with its citizens.
What is the mood of The Unknown Citizen?
The ironic tone is made clear with the detail that the unknown citizen, who is having a monument erected to him, has never done anything brilliant or even heroic. In fact, he has done nothing to differentiate himself from the average person.
What is the irony in The Unknown Citizen?
The main type of irony used in “The Unknown Citizen” is situational irony. It is ironic that the state is honoring the situation of a man brainwashed into lockstep conformity. It is also ironic that the state is so indifferent to the citizen it is “honoring” that it does not know his name.
How is The Unknown Citizen identified?
Despite being unknown by name, the citizen is identified by his social identification, the number, “JS/07/M/378.” This number is much like a social security number. It leads investigators to various data banks that provide details regarding the citizen’s life, and this is the irony upon which the poem turns.
What is the theme of I had the choice?
The poem has the dual purpose of acknowledging the artistry of great writers and the beauty, power, and mystery of nature. The last line expresses his desire to bring the two together in his own work.
What does Auden want to convey about the modern society through his poem The Unknown Citizen?
Through the poem “The Unknown Citizen,” Auden wants to convey the idea that modern society is overly regimented and controlled by the state. As a result, people have become dehumanized, treated as nothing more than cogs in a gigantic machine.
Why do you think Auden capitalizes these words?
The modern, bureaucratic state as presented by Auden thinks of itself as incredibly important and that overriding sense of self-importance is reflected in the use of capital letters to refer to the various institutions of state.
Why is the unknown citizen referred as a saint?
Why is the citizen referred to as a saint? the Unnamed Citizen is a “modern” saint, which means that he always served the “Greater Community.” Why is the speaker sure that the citizen felt free and happy? Because the Bureaucracy would have heard if he wasn’t happy.
Why is the unknown citizen unknown?
In the case of the unknown citizen of the poem, someone has died unknown because of the conformity that was imposed upon him by the government and society, a conformity he seems to have embraced, not worthy of our respect. This particular person is unknown because he is a complete conformist to social norms.
Why did Auden write The Unknown Citizen?
“The Unknown Citizen” was written by the British poet W.H. Auden, not long after he moved to America in 1939. The poem is a kind of satirical elegy written in praise of a man who has recently died and who lived what the government has deemed an exemplary life.
Why was the citizen unknown in Auden The Unknown Citizen?
Why did Auden write the unknown citizen?
What does the Unknown Citizen by W.H.Auden mean?
The Unknown Citizen, this multileveled and complex poem by W.H. Auden, is usually described by its surface level of meaning, that being that the “state” of some “future” time has reduced individuals to a collection of data and numbers.
Why is the Unknown Citizen capitalized in the poem?
Throughout the “unknown citizen’s” life, he did a number of things to serve the community. In fact, he spent his whole life “serv [ing] the Greater Community.” Capitalization is utilized throughout the poem to acknowledge bodies, or official groups that exist in the world of the poem.
What is the structure of the Unknown Citizen?
You can read ‘The Unknown Citizen’ here before proceeding to our analysis below. ‘The Unknown Citizen’ begins with a prefatory dedication which identifies this ‘unknown citizen’ only by a number (which roughly follows the structure of US social security numbers).
What was the surprise in the Unknown Citizen?
The surprise is that the “state” actually, truly expected to have heard about unhappiness and restraints to freedom (1) in the society pictured (reflecting 1946) and (2) through the means established and exercised.
