An Analysis Of ' The Unknown Citizen ' By F. H. Auden

Despite years of evolution in human culture, the ideal of conformity has succeeded numerous changes of human ideology. To conform means to set aside your own moral beliefs and join the group that would benefit your self the most, or at least that is what author, Arthur Miller, suggests in The Crucible. Throughout the book, characters are faced with the dilemma of conforming or rebelling, a predicament that tests their morality against their will to avoid punishment and shame. In The Crucible, Miller suggests that the decision to conform or to rebel truly displays the morality and selflessness within the characters in the book.

Conformity- behavior in accordance with socially accepted conventions or standards. When does conformity go too far? In Anthem by Ayn Rand people conformed out of fear. Everyone in there society has to be the same skill level, same intelligent and same physical attributes. People are given numbers at birth. People are also assigned jobs that they can not reject. Equality who is the main character does not follow the rules and is rubellus. He meets a girl that is just like him who he calls the Golden One. He make electricity and shows it to the highest people in there world, and they think it is evil. He gets sent to prison ,but he escapes because there were no locks on the doors. He goes to the forbidden forest. The Golden One finds him ,and they find a house in the mountains. They find all new things that they don't know what it is. But Equality plans to get his friends from the town and start his own society with his rules. Social conformity goes too far when the people do not have a choice for anything.

Individuals and society often disagree over morals and values, and the resulting conflicts arise in a vast range of ways. One way society conflicts with individuals is when society tries to restrict what people say, as seen in James Sterngold’s article “Censorship in the Age of Anything Goes”. Other times, individuals will be too afraid to speak out against society for fear of having society turn against them, as seen in Arthur Miller’s allegorical play, The Crucible. On the other hand, when individuals do defy society, there can be positive results, as seen in J.D. Salinger’s novel, The Catcher in the Rye. As such, when the beliefs of individuals and society come into conflict, the individuals can either let the controlling society forcefully

The act of people conforming is seen every where. Any activity performed by someone that is “in the ordinary” is them conforming to the norm. In the crucible, all the girls conform to the norm, set by Abigail Williams. When Abigail faints, the girls faint, when Abigail screams, the girls scream. They mirror her in her every action due to their fear of what would occur if they did not. Same concept is seen today, for example, when you shower regularly you are conforming to the norm. You shower in fear of judgement if you were not to shower, and you shower in following the actions of others. This common action of following in others footsteps affects us by causing people to become identical and influencing people to ignore their personal morals and follow the mob of society blindly. People force physical change upon themselves due to fear of being that one

Imagine living in a society where everything someone does is conforming to someone else. In the novella Anthem, written by Ayn Rand, the author talks about conformity by referring to how all men need to be alike and fit in with each other. Equality 7-2521 the street sweeper, believes in the feeling of individualism and rejects the collectivist society around him. Social conformity becomes dangerous in Anthem because while Equality 7-2521 follows all the rules at the beginning of the novella, throughout the book he begins to break them.

Humans want to be like other humans. Likeness breeds security, and with this, people will go to great lengths to conform to their peers. This concept dictates a large part of everyone’s daily lives in the society built around them, as demonstrated very clearly by Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible; a story of the Salem Witch Trials of 1692. In this case, because people conformed to what people around them were saying and doing--accusing people of witchcraft and executing them--twenty two lives were lost. After considering how the events of The Crucible portray conformity and the place in society conformity occupies, it becomes quite clear that conformity, while it has it virtues, can result in many societal issues that can be easily

The goal of a social worker is to help others in tackling whatever problems they are currently facing and pairing them with the appropriate resources needed so that they can lead a productive and healthy life. A social worker lives by a strong value system that is referred to as social justice. According to the National Association of Social Workers (NASW), “Social justice is the view that everyone deserves equal economic, political, and social rights and opportunities,” (2015, para. 2). Paul Loeb, author of the book Soul of a Citizen, writes moving stories of ordinary people who inspire others to want to be better citizens. This paper will be a reflection on how the book made me feel, the affect it has had on my formation as a social worker, any experiences I have had in social justice advocacy and what vision I have of myself as a social justice social worker.

Conformity. Noah Webster defines it as "action in accordance with prevailing social standards, attitudes, practices, etc.". When a man conforms he displays obedience towards the regulations of the society into which he has been planted. Harlan Ellison writes of conformity in his epic entitled "'Repent Harlequin!' Said the Ticktockman". And it is through his piece that he paints the idea of non-conformism. Ellison implements in media res organization, crafts a programmed society, interpolates monotonous diction, and alludes to Thoreau's "Civil Disobedience" in respect to serving society; all in an effort to stir in readers the true danger that goes hand in hand with depravity in leadership, while also magnifying the importance of a single

Nonconformity works well in an imperfect society in need of improvement. In a society lacking greatly in an aspect such as equality or morals, nonconformity can be the first step towards improvement. Many heros in the eyes of history has inspiring change in their society by simply not following the crowd. They choose instead to act in a way that they would like to see reflected in the society. Many different works of literature that are written by nonconformist tends to express dissatisfaction with an issue in their society or introduce new ideologies different from what is commonly accepted in their everyday lives.

The author describes this citizen as being an overall regular man in society, who did not change or impact the world by any means. He was a normal man who bought a paper every day

Conformity has been the target of many works of literature even before Holden Caulfield from Catcher in the Rye spewed angst about everyone around him being a “phony.” To many people, there are forces in the social order that shape others to fit a certain mold, and one who does not fit the mold will be considered an outcast by society. During the 1960’s, rebellion was a shared act among the majority, including authors and artists; this was due to the conflict in the East as well as the Civil Rights movement. To these people, the government was a criminal, even a machine perhaps, which threatened one’s individuality. This provides some historical context on the background of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. Ken Kesey, the author, worked in

Conformity is one of the social psychological phenomenas found in the movie. Solomon Northup, a well educated man is advised to act as though he can neither read nor write in order to survive, he soon learns to conform to the standards of his new social

In the “Unknown Citizen”, Auden suggests that a person’s worth is more determined by his character than

This paper discusses the notion that truly moral people are not only those who follow rules, laws and norms, these society norms and laws are very flexible and change with time. Such people do whatever they wish to do without the fear of being criticized. The essay is based on "The Doll House" play by Henrik Ibsen. However, other similar stories that support thesis statement include; "The story of an Hour" by Kate Chopin and "The Stranger" by Albert Camus.

     “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 socially accepted values and actions instilled in society by materialistic views. This makes the government appear unconcerned with the true thoughts and feelings of its people, seeing them only as statistics. We can see this in the subtitle “To