The Unknown Citizen
English BBS Second Year New Course
(A Poem)
--- W.H. Auden
(Line by line explanation)
Lines 1-5
He was found by the
Bureau of Statistics to be
One against whom there was no official complaint,
And all the reports of his conduct agree
That, in the modern sense of the old-fashioned word, he was a saint,
For in everything he did he served the Greater Community.
Auden has chosen to craft a speaker for the “Unknown
Citizen” who is completely concealed, but strangely familiar. He speaks with a
candidness and emotionless tenor which is hard to connect with. Once the
identity of the speaker is a bit clearer though, one might come to recognize
the faceless, seemingly lifeless person of a government worker or customer
service representative.
The
speaker is going about his job, as he would any other day, and is not impacted
by the facts he is relaying about the “unknown citizen.” The
speaker’s lack of inflection is made up for by the rhymes which are pervasive
in his speech.
It was Auden’s goal in this piece to present the words
of a dystopian narrator, to the tune of a rhyme. This contrast is quite forceful as the
reader will discover throughout the poem’s 32 lines.
The
speaker begins by introducing the main subject of the poem, who will never
receive a name or proper identification. The reader will only come to know him
through the facts that the “Bureau of Statistics, “the Greater Community,” and
other fictional dystopian sounding organizations, have seen fit to share.
The first thing of note that the speaker mentions is
that there are no “complaints” lodged against this person. No one stepped
forward, during their investigation, to say that he had done some wrong. All of
the reports that this speaker has at his disposal tell him that the “unknown
citizen” is a “saint.” His record is spotless and pristine.
This
poem certainly reads like a report and it is interesting to consider why these
particular facts about this person’s life were chosen. What do these things
really tell about someone? It is important to note that there is nothing deeper
discussed in these lines. One cannot come to fully know the “unknown citizen”
through this report, hence the irony between the title and the goal
of the verses.
Lines 6-14
Except
for the war till the day he retired
He worked in a factory and never got fired,
(…)
That he was popular with his mates and liked a drink.
The Press are convinced that he bought a paper every day,
In the second set of lines, the
report continues. Throughout the “unknown citizen’s” life, he did a number of
things to serve the community. In fact, he spent his whole life “serv[ing] the
Greater Community.” Capitalization is utilized throughout the poem to
acknowledge bodies, or official groups that exist in the world of the poem. The
citizen served the community up until the day he died. The only exception was
when he went to fight in the “War.” Which war this is meant to be is not made
clear.
The citizen,
…worked in a factory and
never got fired,
But
satisfied his employers, Fudge Motors Inc.
The man did as he was told, dedicated himself to his
work, and was continually in the good graces of his employers. So far this
person seems incredibly straightforward. There is not much more revealed
besides surface-level details that anyone could infer.
The
man did not have any “odd views” and he always paid his “union dues.” He was on
time with payments and was not strange in any way. That is to say, he did not
believe in, or participate in anything, that went against the tenants of this
dystopian feeling world.
The man
not only did well at work, but he was also popular with his friends. They were
social and completely normal. One might at this point be suspicious of the
total normalcy that filled this person’s life. Shouldn’t there be more there to
see and learn about?
Lines 15-22
And
that his reactions to advertisements were normal in every way.
Policies taken out in his name prove that he was fully insured,
(…)
A gramophone, a radio, a car and a frigidaire.
Our researchers into Public Opinion are content
The poem continues and the speaker refers to a number
of other organizations that have been keeping an eye on the citizen. The
“Press,” presumably a government-run news organization, reported to the speaker
that the citizen,
…bought a paper every day
And
that his reactions to advertisements were normal in every way.
The man was as susceptible to advertising as he was
supposed to be, and committed to the news of the day. Continuing in the theme
of this dystopia, it is quite likely his life was consumed with the propaganda produced by these agencies.
It is hard to know who this person truly was with these purely surface-level
details.
Additionally,
the man went to the hospital, but did not stay long. He left “cured” just as he
should. He was sufficiently healthy and sufficiently interested in acquiring
all the appliances a “Modern Man “would need. He had,
Lines 23-29
That he held the proper opinions for the
time of the year;
When there was peace he was for peace; when there
was war he went.
(…)
Was he free? Was he happy? The question is absurd:
Had anything been wrong, we should certainly have
heard.
In the final section of this piece the speaker
concludes his report on the “unknown citizen.” The researchers at “Public
Opinion,” perhaps the government organization the speaker works for as he uses,
“Our,” conclude that the man had all the “proper opinions.” The propaganda was
doing its job and the man believed what he was meant to. He was an advocate for
what the government told him to be, whether the was “peace” or “war.”
The
man’s personal life consisted of a normal wife, and “five children” that were
“added…to the population.” The number was not too many or too few, it was just
“right” for a man of his “generation.”
The final lines of the piece bring
greater attention to the absurdity of the poem’s premise. The speaker, as if
defending himself, states that the “question” of whether the citizen was “free”
or “happy” is absurd. He was certainly happy, otherwise, “we should…have heard.”