Unknown Citizen Essay

of a state official praising a citizen who died. W. H. Auden’s “The Unknown Citizen” criticizes the government for not truly caring about its people. The government commends its citizens only when they do not interfere with the state’s agenda. In this poem, one specific man is what the state considers an ideal citizen, so they build a monument for him after he dies. The words of this poem are their tribute to this citizen for his respectable life. Their ideal citizen, though, is one who blindly follows

to access more information about their citizens. “The Unknown Citizen” tells a story of a citizen’s life to death through the eyes of the government. The government seeks to publicize their superiority so they may receive more fame and glory, but while doing so, they magnify their faults. In the poem, W. H. Auden uses formal word choice to create a serious tone with a sarcastic effect and irony through the lack of a rhyme scheme and knowledge about the citizen to illustrate how the government knows

Message Exchange Three Messages Citizen, Old, and Anyone Many may say that within every piece of literature, object, and spoken word there is a deeper meaning, or perhaps a hidden message. These hidden meanings are often hard to find and require more thought. In the three poems “The Unknown Citizen”,“Old Age Sticks” , and “Anyone lived in a Pretty How Town” there is a hidden meaning behind each word. Some could say that they all tie together

Werner 05 March 2012 The Unknown Citizen By W. H. Auden Several conflicts are dramatized in The Unknown Citizen, the most prominent being: conformity of the middle class, government manipulation, and the loss of individualism to the standards of an average citizen. The speaker of this poem is non-traditional as the poem is, in fact, an inscription on a “marble monument erected by the State.” The inscription is dedicated to a “JS/07 M 378”—presumably, “The Unknown Citizen,” although this term only

shapes their lives and leaves an impression on other people’s lives as well. Without these memories, their lives would have been meaningless. In W. H. Auden’s “The Unknown Citizen,” it is evident that memories are important to really knowing a person. In the text, a eulogy is given by a government official for a citizen whose life is unknown. The official goes throughout the eulogy expressing how much the deceased was a “saint” by stating different facts from different government organizations about

you grow older than old seems farther away. Wystan Auden and E. E. Cummings were poets that wrote The Unknown Citizen, old age sticks, and anyone lived in a pretty how town, one message that all three of these poems brought was getting old is not fun. First off, in Citizen, it tells of a normal man, a man that does not do anything special and is the perfect role model for what an average citizen should be like. This man does what he is told and does not do anything that is bad or shamed upon. Auden

“The Unknown Citizen,” written by W. H. Auden, is a poem that describes a man who lived a life most people would see as ideal. The man illustrated by this poem did what society expected him to do, which resulted in a model life. This poem, however, can be seen in more than one way. Some may see the story in the poem as a description of a man who had an unfulfilling life because he did exactly what was expected of him. Instead of trying something new, exploring the world, or making a change, the man

“The Unknown Citizen”      “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

The Unknown Citizen consists of many different kinds of organizations and people that are weighing in and discussing the character of the poem our “citizen”. Our citizen had never received or made any official complaint against him or others according to the “Bureau of Statistics.” It was said that the man was a saint, whose good doings in life consisted of never getting fired and serving in the military. He had belonged to a Union, and paid his dues, he was also said to have of liked having a drink

the event that perhaps was the most substantial of them all: World War 2. As these events transpired, the face of America as a nation shifted in all arenas politically, economically and socially, garnering the attention of its citizens as well as the attention of citizens of other foreign countries. One of those individuals was renowned English poet, Wystan Hugh Auden (W.H Auden). Born in York, England in 1907, he moved to the United States in 1939

The Unknown Citizen, is about an overly controlling government that regulates every aspect of a citizen’s lives. Each of the branches of this government declared this unknown man was a hard worker, nice, and served the greater community because he was part of a whole and had lost his individuality. Much as in The Unknown Citizen, society is leaning towards a too strong government. The main ideas of this poem reflect a very real society that is filled with complacent and controlled citizens through

called “The Unknown Citizen”, written by W.H. Auden, expressed the idea that “scientific data fails to capture the human quality of life” and that “our lives are largely shaped and dictated” by a greater society leading to the loss of a meaningful life (“The Unknown” 301). Despite the difference in the plot of Kafka’s The Metamorphosis and Auden’s “The Unknown Citizen”,

those who actually never do anything. However, the "Unknown Citizen" has a monument built as a symbol of his perfection. Thus, Auden's "The Unknown Citizen" shows how the government makes each individual merely a number unless they do not conform to society's norms. The monument of the "unknown citizen" is erected not to honor the memory of a man, but to show how he is the perfect example of a good citizen (Auden). In this poem, the citizen is just an average person who never stands out among

as symbolic characters, symbolism, and irony, to simplify the understanding of who this “satirical target” is. In “The Unknown Citizen” by W. H. Auden and James Michie’s “Dooley Is a Traitor,” symbolic characters, symbolism, and irony are all used to indirectly criticize the target of each satirical work. In “The Unknown Citizen,” Auden is criticizing the way average citizens live their daily life. In this satire, JS/07/M/378 is dead and is being praised by the state in a eulogy. In a typical eulogy

Social Irresponsibility: “The World Is Too Much With Us / The Unknown Citizen” This is a critical analysis of two poems – The world is too much with us by William Wordsworth, and The Unknown Citizen by W.H. Auden focusing on how the two poems highlight the mundane drudgery of life. It is a drudgery, and one that people do not even recognize because they are consumed in leading materialistic ways of life, conforming to the state and the society or both. The text proceeds from analyzing each poem

In the three literary works that were chosen, “The Known Citizen” by W. H. Auden, “A & P” by John Updike, and “Antigone” by Sophocles has a theme that is known to be conformity and rebellious. The poem “The Unknown Citizen” 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 “A & P” has a conformist character who enforces the rules for the supermarket and a rebellious character who goes against the

to them without 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 “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 “A & P” by John Updike and the play “Antigone” by Sophocles there is a conformist

also involved with different Christian beliefs. One of his greatest poems would have to be “The Unknown Citizen” which was written in 1939. He wrote this poem shortly after he moved to the United States. “The Unknown Citizen” is mainly a satiric poem. The author of the poem uses satire in the poem by the theme of conformity, submissiveness, and propaganda. W.H. Auden shows satire in “The Unknown Citizen” by the theme of conformity. According to the dictionary, conformity is “obedience and compliancy”

Analysis of The Unknown Citizen by W.H. Auden “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 honoured

Themes of W.H. Auden's "The Unknown Citizen" Conformity and Anonymity in the Modern World "Social Security Number? Birth date? Nine digit telephone number starting with area code? Mother's Maiden Name?" In many ways, we are simply faceless numbers to modern society, not individuals with feelings and emotions and dreams. W.H. Auden, a well-known English poet and dramatist, discusses this important theme in his poem "An Unknown Soldier." Auden, being a modernist, is concerned with this modern idea