First of all, it is important to consider whether the poet plays or not with language in his poem. The report describes the standardization of contemporary life, which is at odds with the value involved. He was born in york, england, in 1907 and died in vienna in 1973. Except for the war till the day he retired he worked in a factory and never. It describes an average citizen in a governmentcontrolled state. British from birth, united states from 1946 education. Discuss this statement with suitable extracts from the unknown citizen. The unknown citizen was written by the british poet w. First of all, it is important to consider whether the. Auden would have been 66 years old at the time of death or 108 years old today. That, in the modern sense of an oldfashioned word, he was a saint, for in everything he did he served the greater community. The poem was first published on january 6, 1940 in the new yorker, and first appeared in book form in audens collection another time random house, 1940. The poem begins with the speaker stating the fact that throughout his life there was never one complaint against the citizen.
The poem has a lot of irony, as the speaker lists off accomplishments that arent accomplishments at all. Monthly multidisciplinary research journal citeseerx. Auden is important to consider, when you do an analysis. Paraphrase elegy poem about a dead person citizen is referred to in past tense parody of the unknown soldier saying used to acknowledge dead soldiers that couldnt be identified this person starts off by giving mad kudos to a citizen a government official reported about. The unknown citizen analysis the unknown citizen, written by w. Auden to js07 m 378 this marble monument is erected by the state he was found by the bureau of statistics to be one against whom there was no official complaint, and all the reports on his conduct agree that, in the modern sense of an oldfashioned word, he was a saint. The unknown citizen is a governments view of the perfect modern man in an unrealistic society. The sight of all those unnamed dead, remembered only in their capacity as soldiers, is of course unspeakably tragic, but i find there to be also something quite estranging there, because there are no. The pursuit of the american dream offers, in theory, the chance not just to be safe and sheltered in the united states, but. Often anthologized and read by students in high school and college, it is renowned for its wit and irony in complaining about the stultifying and anonymous qualities of bureaucratic, semisocialist western societies. The absurdity about the question arises straight from the time when one looks up at the title of the poem, the unknown citizen, ideally the citizen is the states responsibility but in the poem, auden explains how the state treats the citizen as nothing more than a duty that needs to be kept a check upon with the help of a few external sources ensuring the veritable happiness of the citizen has never been on the states list of priorities.
With the related concept of the unknown soldier, it is the soldiers physical remains, or dead body, that cannot be identified. Buy cheap auden the unknown citizen essay audens poem the unknown citizen was written in 1939 in a tone meant to depict the authors discontent with americas governance system of the time which had a relatively big government presence than his previous home. The unknown citizen, was written during world war ii in the 1940s. Audens poem the unknown citizen praises a nameless citizen who to the state was a saint, but auden satirizes the speaker and his values by making it clear that the citizen, by devoting himself entirely to serving the greater community, had lost. However, one can always find similarities in the writing style of w. The american bureaucracy creates a faceless unknown citizen spit out by the indifferent and often cruel machine of government. 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. Get an answer for identify the elements of socialist realism in the unkown citizen by w. His poem the unknown citizen, written in the form of a dedication for a public monument, celebrates a life that had everything necessary to the modern manexcept, apparently, a name. 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.
The absurdity about the question arises straight from the time when one looks up at the title of the poem, the unknown citizen, ideally the citizen is the states responsibility but in the poem, auden explains how the state treats the citizen as nothing more than a duty that needs to be kept a check upon with the help of a few external sources ensuring the veritable happiness of the citizen. The unknown citizen was written by wystan hugh auden in 1939. Language and style in the unknown citizen studienet. In the unknown citizen the government has manipulated human intelligence to the. The unknown citizen auden free download as word doc. The unknown citizen introduction during the 1920s and 30s, many american writers left the states to become expatriates overseas, particularly in europe. Type of work, summary, tone, point of view, rhyme, and more. Must we serve the greater community to be a good member of society. He does his duty as a citizen of the country he lives in. The unknown citizen 1940 is one of audens most famous poems. What makes the citizen unknown and what makes him known. The unknown citizen, first published in the listener on august 1939, and later included in the collected shorter poems, 1950, is a satire, not on the citizen, but on the way in which the average man in the street is controlled by the conventions of bureaucracy and the welfare state which ignore the need for a man to be free and happy. Its structure is that of a satiric elegy, as though the. One against whom there was no official complaint, and all the reports on his conduct agree.
Auden have strong sarcasm and ridicule the government. This community could include the poor and the hungry, but somehow we think that is not what the speaker has in mind. The unknown citizen is a modern saint, which means that he always served the greater community. The unknown citizen poem summary and analysis litcharts. Auden, is a satirical poem declaring the petty accomplishments achieved by an unnamed citizen in a presumably american or industrialized society. As these lines indicate, the poem is a written monument that functions as a cenotaph. By definition, the unknown citizen has no identity. Is the unknown citizen by auden similar to the book 1984. The unknown citizen, as i walked out one evening and musee des beaux arts. Audens poem the unknown citizen is in brief a memorial to a symbolic, but unknown citizen who is being praised for his excellent consumerism and expertise in. The unknown citizen lyrics to js07 m 378 this marble monument is erected by the state he was found by the bureau of statistics to be.
The unknown citizen below can provide a reference and show the existence of a gap. Here is our input on the way auden uses the language. Auden, is a commentary on government and the materialism of modern man. Audens poem entitled the unknown citizen is a portrayal of a conflict between individualism and government control. The language and style of the poem the unkonwn citizen by w. Auden was born on february 21, 1907 and died on september 29, 1973. He was found by the bureau of statistics to be one against whom there was no official complaint, and all the reports on his conduct agree that, in the modern sense of an oldfashioned word, he was a saint, for in everything he did he served the greater community. Auden in 1939, shortly after he moved from england to the united states. Analysis of the unknown citizen english literature essay. During this time a mans possessions and status defined who he was. Auden best describes him as an average citizen when he writes, and had everything necessary to the modern man auden 20.
Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. The unknown citizen the unknown citizen is one of the significant poems of w. The unknown citizen modern interpretation bryce josephnelson. Although not directly expressed, it is clear that the poem presents an ironical comparison. The unknown citizen analysis by briana washington on prezi. The poem is about a bureaucrat s report of a common man. Auden summary and critical analysis the unknown citizen by w. First, the imagery of the unknown citizen gives a good mental image of the lifestyle of this person. Still, the most striking comparison is that of the unknown citizen with a saint. That is to say, it is a poem written to mark a specific occasion or event. Auden describes, through the form of a dystopian report, the life of an unknown man. Audens the unknown citizen is written in the voice of a fictional government bureaucrat and it uses parody to protest the numbing effects of modern life its indifference towards individuality and identity. The unnamed man established a name for himself within his community and appears to be living the american dream. 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.
The unknown citizen, when i first read its title and opening epigraph, reminded me of the tomb of the unknown soldier in paris, and the nameless graves of northern france. The occasion is indicated in the lines contained in parenthesis that precede the body of the poem. The uses of irony tone in the unknown citizen, by w. The theme of the unknown and the american dream in the. Pdf i assume that audens poem though very short contain loads of semantic ambiguity find, read and cite all the research you need on.
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