The Unknown Citizen By. Auden - 1527 Words

The Unknown Citizen Analysis The Unknown Citizen, written by W.H. Auden, is a satirical poem declaring the petty accomplishments achieved by an unnamed citizen in a presumably American or industrialized society. Through several readings of the poem, many would not even consider the Unknown Citizen as a poem, but rather, a letter of recommendation or a speech for a political election. The only obvious characteristic of this piece resembling a poem is the rhyming scheme. Other than rhyming, there are no apparent similes, onomatopoeias, or any other widely-used literary devices. This strengthens the tone and setting of this poem, for the diction and overall language is meant to be interpreted as thoroughly formal, literal, and professional. From the very first line, the reader is given a common but accurate stereotype of the government. It reads: He was found by the Bureau of Statistics to be. This provides the common assumption that the bureaucracy and government don t consider the common citizen a human being, but rather a numerical value or worth. Also, although there is no negativity told of the citizen in question, the compliments seem rather petty and are told so through the excessive use of litotes and double-negatives. Some examples include: no official complaint ; never got fired ; and he never interfered . In this lack of economic writing, the narrator, presumably a businessman or bureaucrat, describes this citizen with insignificant or averageShow MoreRelated The Unknown CItizen by W.H. Auden Essay731 Words   |  3 Pagesâ€Å"The Unknown Citizen†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬Å"The Unknown Citizen† by W.H. Auden, is a commentary on government and the materialism of modern man. The poem is written in the form of an obituary inscribed on a monument built by the government in commemoration of an average, upstanding, and decent community member. Throughout the passage, the speaker lists facts about the citizen’s life which he believes prove that the deceased was a valuable person. In actuality these facts represent nothing more than the sociallyRead MoreThe Unknown Citizen And Wb Auden Analysis820 Words   |  4 Pagessparked an allowance for him to change his writing style. ‘The Unknown Citizen’ and ‘In Memory of W.B Yeats’ were both written in 1939, shortly after Auden’s move to America. Both poems have representations on the multifaceted nature of human immortality and the effects that those depictions have on the individual that they were modelled off and how those interpretations can varying depending on context. In Auden’s poem ‘The Unknown Citizen’ the line, â€Å"To JS/07 M 378 / This Marble Monument is ErectedRead More The Unknown Citizen by W.H. Auden Essay815 Words   |  4 PagesThe Unknown Citizen by W.H. Auden The Poem â€Å"The Unknown Citizen† by W.H. Auden is a satire. Its narrator is the state. In this, the state pays tribute and describes a successful and positive product of its efficiency and effectiveness. In other words, it builds the character later described to the reader as â€Å"the perfect citizen.† The narrator speaks as if he is delivering a speech or common tribute using words and phrases that are familiar to the reader. Using such imagery Read MoreThe Unknown Citizen by W.H. Auden Essay970 Words   |  4 PagesThe Unknown Citizen by W.H. Auden The poem that I am going to talk about is the Unknown Citizen by W.H Auden. I am going to talk about what I first glimpse in the poem but then after further study what you actually see. At the start of the poem under the title it hasRead MoreAn Analysis Of The Unknown Citizen By F. H. Auden2316 Words   |  10 Pageswithout any complaints. Each of the three literary writings has a character that is considered rebellious within the norms of society. A rebellious person is someone who does not follow the rules that are given to them. The poem â€Å"The Unknown Citizen† by W. H. Auden is mainly about an unnamed man who is a conformist, because he listens to all the rules that are made for the society. On the other hand, the short story â€Å"A P† by John Updike and the play â€Å"Antigone† by Sophocles there is a conformistRead MoreThe Unknown Citizen By F. H. Auden, A P2256 Words   |  10 PagesIn the three literary works that were chosen, â€Å"The Known Citizen† by W. H. Auden, â€Å"A P† by John Updike, and â€Å"Antigone† by Sophocles has a theme that is known to be conformity and rebellious. The poem â€Å"The Unknown Citizenâ₠¬  is mainly about the unknown man who is a conformist because he listens to all the rules that are made for the society. On the other hand, the short story â€Å"A P† has a conformist character who enforces the rules for the supermarket and a rebellious character who goes against theRead MoreAnalysis Of Auden s The Unknown Citizen, And Funeral Blues All By Auden2119 Words   |  9 Pagesenjoyable and humorous. Poet W.H. Auden did this. As the 1930s seemed to be drawing closer towards war, Auden became a leading spokesman of his generation, a political writer who warned against dangers that are caused by totalitarianism. His socialism and distrust of nationalism during this period was strong, influenced mostly by his experiences in the Spanish Civil War, but his social views were always more complex labels that were given to him. Three works of Auden that can be analysed are â€Å"SeptemberRead More Analysis of The Unknown Citizen by W.H. Auden Essay examples1464 Words   |  6 PagesAnalysis of The Unknown Citizen by W.H. Auden â€Å"The Unknown Citizen†, written by W.H. Auden during 1940, is a poem where the speaker, a representative of the state or government, directs a speech to the audience about a monument being erected for a citizen. Written in free verse, although using many couplets, this poem is a poem that describes the life of a certain person through his records and documents. This citizen is portrayed as a normal and average human being who is being honouredRead MoreThe Unknown Citizen by W.H.Auden1320 Words   |  5 PagesThe poem â€Å"The Unknown Citizen† by W.H. Auden is a poem with a strong message to a wide audience. It portrays a political system’s control over its citizen. The poem is telling us we are a product of our countries, we are nothing but a number of digits to be identified. The poem revolves around the life of the unknown citizen, JS/07/M/378, who was granted a monument by the government in honor of his flawless life in an un-free society. He is by all means the perfect citizen, the citizen who has devotedRead MorePoem Analysis: The Unknown Citizen Essay977 Words   |  4 PagesThe Average Man W. H. Auden satirizes the United States as an entity, which restrains individual advancement. Through depersonalization, the government rewards those who actually never do anything. However, the Unknown Citizen has a monument built as a symbol of his perfection. Thus, Audens The Unknown Citizen shows how the government makes each individual merely a number unless they do not conform to societys norms. The monument of the unknown citizen is erected not to honor the