W.H. Auden’s, “Unknown Citizen”, portrays a dark satire that in reality forces a person to lose his/her individuality and become the product of a social assembly line. The main character conforms to society for approval instead of looking within himself for his own opinions. Auden wrote the poem in 1939, shortly after becoming a citizen of United States and escaping England. The poem relinquishes evidence of his cultural collision with American social norms and bureaucracy throught he use of symbolism, rhyme scheme, and allusion.
The “Unknown citizen” gives a point of reference through symbolism, using a number instead of a name before the poem even begins. The number, “JS/07/M/378” , reduces an individual down to a number. The number in this case can resemble a one uses to proclaim arrival and departure. Clocking in features the individual working for a machine that doesn’t understand your emotion but only understands you based on a statistical report. Citizens dont voice their opinion about the system in fear of the goverment, due to the feeling of needing to be a part, which mirrors this character. Citizens also fear abandonment and don't ignite individuality because they dont know a way to express in a safe manner anymore. The goverment now has the power to detain individuals without reason. Because of the power, people are building walls of silence and scared to speak out. Auden’s character symbolizes a perfect example of how the government watches over his citizens and collects life long data, which citizens don’t benefit from because data can be used against them.
According to the speaker of the poem, “That, in the modern sense of an old fashioned word, he was saint”(Auden 4), references that the government labels it...
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... Instead of using stanzas the author uses rhyme schemes that help create flow throughout the poem. For example, lines 8 and 13, show responsability by the citizen, who can still manage to have a satisfactory time with his friends.
Furthermore, Auden uses allusion in "the unknown citizen". Allusion is the indirect reference to a commonly known source. Auden presents an example of allusion to George OrWells "1984" a book that revolves around a restraining society. Just like in the novel, a constant delineation of power keeps watchful eyes on its citizens. throughout the book "1984", an everlasting theme concers the personality of a quintessential person. Big brother administers surveillance on the society, though the figure in the poem remains anonymous. the same specifications apply. "Yet he wasnt a scab or odd in his views" (Auden 9) supports the everlasting theme.
His outside actions of touching the wall and looking at all the names are causing him to react internally. He is remembering the past and is attempting to suppress the emotions that are rising within him. The first two lines of the poem set the mood of fear and gloom which is constant throughout the remainder of the poem. The word choice of "black" to describe the speaker's face can convey several messages (502). The most obvious meaning ... ...
The alliteration used is to emphasize rhythm in the poem. On the other hand, the poet also depicts a certain rhyme scheme across each stanza. For example, the first stanza has a rhyme scheme of this manner a, b, c, d, e, a. With this, the rhyme scheme depicted is an irregular manner. Hence, the poem does not have a regular rhythm. Moreover, the poet uses a specific deign of consonance, which is present in the poem (Ahmed & Ayesha, p. 11). The poet also uses the assonance style depicted in the seventh stanza, “Seven whole days I have not seen my beloved.” The letter ‘o’ has been repeated to create rhythm and to show despair in the poem. On the second last line of the seventh stanza, the poet uses the style of consonance, “If I hug her, she’ll drive illness from me. By this, the letter ‘l’ is repeated across the line. The poet’s aim of using this style of Consonance is to establish rhythm in the poem and add aural
First of alll, the poem is divided into nine stanzas, where each one has four lines. In addition to that, one can spot a few enjambements for instance (l.9-10). This stylistic device has the function to support the flow of the poem. Furthermore, it is crucial to take a look at the choice of words, when analysing the language.
Each stanza is composed of words that present a logical flow of growth through the entire poem. The words in the poem do not rhyme and the lines are different lengths.
The poet begins by describing the scene to paint a picture in the reader’s mind and elaborates on how the sky and the ground work in harmony. This is almost a story like layout with a beginning a complication and an ending. Thus the poem has a story like feel to it. At first it may not be clear why the poem is broken up into three- five line stanzas. The poet deliberately used this line stanzas as the most appropriate way to separate scenes and emotions to create a story like format.
...in fact, seem insanely chaotic. Our mindless support of self-centred political systems, of abuse of fellow human beings of different nationalities - it may well have appeared quite insane to him. The poem, therefore, delivers a strong message of warning: we must develop a stronger awareness, a care of what is happening, lest we, the collective we - humanity, the 'Idiot', are left in the ruins of our effort, alone, forever.
Rhyme-The last words of line one and line three of each stanza rhyme. The last words of line two and line four of each stanza also rhyme. The rhyming words contribute to the rhythm and flow of the poem.
During the poem the speaker does not address his readers. The readers are simply overhearing a man assessing the society in which he lives as he daydreams about what is could be and yet what it is not. It is evident that his goal is to get the readers to look down upon this society which is so caught up in daily routine; prohibiting anyone from having freedom of imagination. This detachment that is created between the speaker and his readers incorporated with the boring monotone at the very beginning of the poem gives the readers a negative impression of the society before they begin to analyze the actual words of the poem.
In The Pedestrian and The Lottery, all characters conform to uniform expectations, except for the main protagonist who feels apprehended and is struggling to escape the grasp and questions the rules of society. In The Pedestrian the Bradbury is concerned that if society constantly depends on technology then it will cease to exist. The story itself does not have a structured plot, which is an example of situational irony because the citizens also have a structured purpose in life, which emphasises Bradbury’s message. Houses are where all abiding citizens of society spend all of their time, so it suggests that they are living in a place where the government can cultivate people who idealise the government by providing entertainment on television that claims that ‘…the United States Calvary [are coming]...
The government of the United States of America is very unique. While many Americans complain about high taxes and Big Brother keeping too close an eye, the truth is that American government, compared to most foreign democracies, is very limited in power and scope. One area American government differs greatly from others is its scope of public policy. Americans desire limited public policy, a result of several components of American ideology, the most important being our desire for individuality and equal opportunity for all citizens. There are many possible explanations for the reason Americans think this way, including the personality of the immigrants who fled here, our physical isolation from other countries, and the diversity of the American population.
What is a person worth to their society? People do not normally consider what their community values them for, and perhaps ignorance is better than the realization of the truth. “The Unknown Citizen,” a poem by W. H. Auden, is an almost tedious epitaph of a deceased man’s life, but the poem is unexpectedly profound in its purpose of causing the reader to evaluate his or her own meaning to society. Other works that touch on the same topic as Auden’s poem are the plays Mrs Warren’s Profession by Bernard Shaw and Endgame by Samuel Beckett, which both portray the cold way that society evaluates its members like “The Unknown Citizen” does. These two plays and single poem compel the reader to question what is his or her life means to society, and see how people within their community view one another.
He states, “Waves of anger and fear circulate over the bright and darkened lands of the earth” (6-8). Auden’s use of oxymoron and personification serve as a guide here as he begins to allude to the current conflicts that are beginning. More importantly H.W Auden is also attempting to get the reader’s attention, by stating that people are oblivious to the horrific events that are unfolding. He is disillusioned because humanity as a whole, had become so consumed by their personal affairs, that they became oblivious to the great evils that where unfolding. He elaborates “Obsessing our private lives” and “the unmentionable odor of death offends the September night” (9-11). Again Auden’s use of imagery and personification both allow the reader to visualize the problems that surround the globe and additionally support his enragement with
The ironic use of rhyme and meter, or the lack thereof, is one of the devices Larkin uses to emphasize his need to break out of industrial society. The typical rhyme scheme is not followed, but instead an ironic rhyme scheme is used in the sonnet in the form of abab cdcd efg efg. Larkin writes this poem as a sonnet but at the same time diverges from what a typical sonnet is supposed to be. He is commenting on society’s inclination to form restrictions on those within it. By writing out of the accepted form of a sonnet, his writing becomes more natural because of a lack of constraints due to following certain rules and fitting a certain form. He breaks free and writes as he pleases and does not conform to society. Just as with the rhyme, ...
W. H. Auden is a poet who portrays his emotions and feelings through his poetry, and in this certain poem, “The Unknown Citizen”, Auden criticises the state. He uses allusions and capitalization to make the reader understand the actual meaning of the poem and by adding the final couplet in the poem, Auden reaches tries to get the reader to think. Auden leaves the reader hanging and makes them think; is our society and government really totalitarian? Or is this how our government will be?
In "The Unknown Citizen," Auden is implying that people are statistics and easily conformed to the normality of society. Throughout the poem, Auden portrays the character as being an all around normal citizen and "one against whom there was no official complaint." In lines 4 and 5, the speaker describes the character as a "saint" and "for in everything he did he served the Greater Community." He served in war, never got fired from his job, popular with his mates, and "normal in every way." Auden develops the theme by describing the character's life through the research of different bureaus, researchers, and psychology workers. Each one of these descriptions point to the same idea that the character is a normal and obedient citizen. In line 10, the Union reports showed that he "paid his dues" and "it was sound." The "researchers in Public Opinion are content that he held the proper opinions for he time the time of year; when there was peace, he was for peace; when there was war, he went." By using all these description from state bureaus and agencies,...