Major. 4
Major. 4
Name of College:- Maharani shree nandkumarba mahila arts and commerce College.
Name :- gohil Kinjalba Rajendrasinh
Year. :- F. Y. B. A.
Semester :- 2nd
Subject :- English
Paper name. :- major 4
Date. :- 3rd March 2026
The unknown citizen;-
W.H.Auden.
The Unknown Citizen was written in 1939 after Auden moved to America. The poem is written like an official report about a man who has died. The government calls him a “model citizen.” The poem sounds like praise, but actually it is a satire (it makes fun of something to criticize it).
The government says that this man did everything correctly. The Unknown Citizen was written in 1939 after Auden moved to America. The poem is written like an official report about a man who has died. The government calls him a “model citizen.” The poem sounds like praise, but actually it is a satire (it makes fun of something to criticize it).
The government says that this man did everything correctly. He worked in the same company all his life and retired properly. When there was war, he went to fight. His company was happy with him. His union said he was not a troublemaker. The government departments checked everything about him and found nothing wrong.
He bought a newspaper regularly. He followed advertisements. He had insurance. He was in the hospital only once. He owned modern things like a radio, a car, a refrigerator, and a record player. He had a wife and five children, which was considered the “right number” by society.
The government also says he always had the “right opinion.” If it was time for peace, he supported peace. If it was time for war, he supported war. He trusted the education system and never questioned anything.
According to all official records, he was perfect.
Main Idea of the Poem
The poem shows how modern society judges people by numbers and records instead of feelings and individuality. The government knows everything about his job, purchases, and social life — but they do not know something very important:
Was he free? Was he happy?
The poem ends by saying that if there had been any problem, the government would have known. This is ironic. The government thinks statistics can measure everything, but they cannot measure happiness or freedom.
He bought a newspaper regularly. He followed advertisements. He had insurance. He was in the hospital only once. He owned modern things like a radio, a car, a refrigerator, and a record player. He had a wife and five children, which was considered the “right number” by society.
The poem shows how modern society judges people by numbers and records instead of feelings and individuality. The government knows everything about his job, purchases, and social life — but they do not know something very important:
By describing the "average citizen" through the eyes of various government organizations, thepoem criticizes standardization and the modern state's relationship with its citizens. The lastlines of the poem dismiss the questions of whether he was "free" or "happy," implicitly becausethe 'statistical method' strategy used by the state to judge his life cannot understand suchquestions. The manipulative state described in the poem finds the Unknown Citizen to be anideal one.The epigraph to "The Unknown Citizen" is a parody of the symbolic Tomb of the UnknownSoldier commemorating unidentified soldiers; tombs of unknown soldiers were first createdfollowing the first World War.It is not just government organizations that Auden criticizes. His employer is "satisfied," hisunion "reports he paid his dues", his mates are found to like him, and the press are pleasedwith his buying papers daily and responding to the ads. The industry poll takers are happy withhis buying habits, and teachers are glad he stayed out of their way. In Auden's poem, theentire system and society are responsible for the loss of individualism, whether or notgovernment was the initial cause of the decline.
2. The Modern Condition and Alienation: The poem suggests that modern life, drivenby bureaucracy and a mechanized society, leads to a sense of alienation. The citizen'slife, although outwardly stable and productive, is devoid of deeper personal meaning orconnection. This highlights the impersonal nature of modern society, where people arereduced to numbers or statistics rather than being seen as complex human beings.
3. The Illusion of Security: Auden critiques the illusion of safety and stability that societyprovides. The citizen appears to have lived a life full of "security" through complianceand duty, but this life is ultimately hollow, lacking any true personal fulfillment orfreedom. The poem implies that a life measured only by material and social successcan still leave individuals spiritually empty.
4. The Role of the State and Bureaucracy: The poem reflects on the state’s role indefining and assessing individual worth. Through a detached, bureaucratic lens, thecitizen’s life is evaluated according to economic productivity, obedience, andconformity, revealing the cold, indifferent nature of institutionalized power. The state’sfocus on efficiency and order often disregards the complexity of human emotions andexperiences.
5. The Critique of Modern Values: Auden critiques the values upheld bysociety—values centered on materialism, efficiency, and social conformity. The poemchallenges readers to reflect on the cost of these values: the sacrifice of personalfreedom and true human connection. It questions whether such a life is worth living if itcomes at the expense of personal meaning and self-expression.
6. The Absence of True Legacy: The "unknown" aspect of the citizen's identity impliesthat despite his social and economic contributions, he is ultimately forgotten andunremarkable as an individual. Auden points out the idea that the citizen’s legacy, asdefined by society, is superficial, and what he leaves behind is an impersonal recordrather than a memorable impact.The Thought-Fox By Ted Hughes