The Unknown Citizen of W. H. Auden's poem is unknown because his name has become unimportant.

He lived, he followed the conventional beliefs of his time, he functioned in a factory. He was never fired, worked satisfactorily, and he paid his union dues. He was popular with his coworkers and would join them occasionally for an after-work drink. Furthermore, he subscribed to a daily paper, responded to advertisements as the advertisers would expect him to respond, was fully insured, was hospitalized once and was pronounced cured. He needs no other name than Modern Man. He owned a phonograph, a radio (this being before the time of television), an automobile and a frigidaire. He was absolutely average in his political opinions, his marriage, and the number of his offspring. He was in favor of peace in peacetime, of war during wartime, and he agreed with whatever the government said was right for his children's education. Then come the key questions. "Was he free? Was he happy?" Such questions are absurd, since had he not felt free and happy some government agency would have been informed. He might then even have had a given name and surname to distinguish him from all of the other cookie cutter drones working at Fudge Motors, Inc or whatever factory. The society described by Auden is as terrifyingly real as is his individual Unknown Citizen. First there is the faceless Bureau of Statistics, his nameless Union, a group of Social Psychology workers, and the Press, If there is a political division in the press, as would be expected, such division has been eliminated. Producers Research and High-Grade Living are equally without character as is the Eugenist who passes an opinion on Modern Man's number of offspring. Similarly, "our teachers" are a bloc indistinguishable one from another. In this society so alarmingly close to our own, the individual under consideration has been reduced to a set of numbers. He can be a "saint" because he has lived a life totally devoted not to God but to the Greater Community. Nowhere in the most unpoetic of poems is there reference to matters of philosophy, creativity, noteworthiness or individuality. The Unknown Citizen consumes without complaint. He disappears at poem's conclusion without having developed height, weight, skin color, hobby, or any similar feature that provides the reader with the means to form a mental picture of any sort. How many Fudge Motors employees, undescribable even when we are looking at them, do we all know? "Social Security Number? Birthdate? 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 of people losing their identities in the face of the changing,

technological world. In the poem "An Unknown Soldier," Auden speaks of the dangers of modern society to the individual including anonymity, conformity, and government control. The anonymity of the unknown citizen is shown in Auden's repeated use of metaphor. Auden shows the reader everything the unknown citizen was and was not-"a saint" (line 4), "wasn't odd in his views" (line 9), "normal in every way" (line 15), "was insured" (line 16), "had everything necessary to the Modern man" (line 20), "held proper opinions for the time of year" (line 23), and added the right number of children to the population (line 25.). While it seems as though the unknown citizen is praised for these qualities, Auden is mocking how anonymous the man has become. This citizen is completely defined by his statistics, not by any of his qualities or feelings. He isn't even given a name but is referred to by a number. Conformity is the virtue in most in demand by society as Emerson pointed out many years before. Auden's unknown citizen is a model of conformity in a society where everyone must follow the rules if things are to run smoothly. He does all the right things. The government can produce reports to show that he did all the right things. He had the right opinions, owned the right products, and even had the correct number of kids. In this poem, people have become noting more than commodities that must fulfill their roles for the wheel to turn. Conformity has created apathetic and obedient citizens which is exactly what the government wants. Lastly an unknown citizen falls prey to government control. The speaker in this poem is the government itself. That's why Auden uses plurals like ours. In the eyes of the state, this man was a saint (line 4) because he fit into the government's idea of the perfect man. The poem is written in rather a choppy way as though it is a statistical report listing all his "assets." The government does not truly care about him, only the fact that he does what he is told. Words are capitalized like Greater Community, Installment Plan, Modern Man, and Public Opinion to show the emphasis that the government puts on these concepts. Everything about his life is closely monitored, even his private life as the government knows things like the fact that he likes to drink. The government does not care about people's happiness or freedom as evidenced by the last lines. "Was he free? Was he happy? The question is absurd: Had anything been wrong, we should certainly have heard." As Platizky says in Explicator, "The agencies are content with empirical evidence about his life" (Platizky). There is no need to ask for any more. He was a good follower and that is what counts. Auden's "An Unknown Soldier" warns us about the dangers of modern society in much the same way as the novel 1984 by George Orwell. Conformity is dangerous. Allowing ourselves to be reduced to faceless numbers is dangerous. Allowing the government too much control is dangerous. As Platizsky says, "In essence, the satriric speaker seemingly praises but, of course, actually mocks the kind of citizen who blindly relinquishes his individuality to the 'Greater Community' (line 5) and the kind of society that insists and depends on such sacrifices from its modern-day Saint (line 4), a saint who does not seek higher truth but merely exists to perpetuate the status quo" (Platizsky). Auden would say that this is the way government wants us to function in the modern-day world, and unfortunately, there are many unknown citizens around, maybe even some of us.

"The Unknown Citizen" - W.H.Auden - Critical Summary Introduction: The Unknown Citizen is a poem by W. H. Auden. Auden wrote it in 1939, shortly after moving from England to the United States, and the poem gives evidence of his culture shock when suddenly confronted with American-style chaos and consumerism. It is an ironic poem and the poet intends his satire against a society which kills a persons individuality. Significance of the Sub-title: The sub-title to the poem To JS/07/M/378/ This Marble Monument Is Erected by the State alludes to the concept enforced by the government that every human being must be classified by a alphanumeric tag to distinguish who they are, rather than being able to have their own personal identity. The poet scoffs at humans being given alpha-numeric names when theyre already struggling for their own personal identity in a world clustered with the advancing technology. His Office Life and Social Life Analysed: The Bureau of Statistics has found that "no official complaint" has been made against the unknown citizen. He is also described as a "modern" saint, which means that he always served the "Greater Community." He worked in a factory before the war and he never got fired, as he satisfied his employers always. Now the poem shifts from his employment to his social life. Even in his socialising with his friends, the unknown citizen acts with a lot of moderation and restraint. He likes "a drink," but he doesnt drink too much and isnt an alcoholic. Even the news media is convinced about the credentials of this citizen because he bought his newspaper every day. Moreover, he also had normal reactions to advertisements in the newspapers. In short, he is a good American consumer. His Insurance and Consumer Statistics Analysed: The governments statistical coverage on this citizen now turns to the insurance sector. He was fully insured, because he was not a risk-taker. And, even though he had insurance, he only went to the hospital once, which means he wasnt too much of a burden on the health system. He left the hospital "cured". Consumer statisticians like Producers Research and High-Grade Living have done a little research and learned that the unknown citizen used "instalment plans" to buy expensive things. The phrase "fully sensible to the advantages of the Instalment Plan" is an ironic comment on the average citizens love for buying things and paying for them over a period of time. Auden seems to criticise the modern mans concept of living wherein we always think we need more than we really do. In the opinion of the speaker, the following lines[He] had everything necessary to the Modern Man, A phonograph, a radio, a car and a Frigidaire, we get the impression that the unknown citizens greatest accomplishment was buying things, which defines the modern mans predicament. The Unknown Citizen A Conformist: The "researchers into Public Opinion" find him a conformist, which means that he believed what the people around him seemed to believe. He was like a weather vane, going whichever way the wind blew.

The fact that He was married and added five children to the population, is a great achievement from the perspective of the State because a growing population usually helps a nations economy and also ensures that there are enough soldiers in case of a War (remembering the fact that this poem was written in 1939, just ahead of World War II). At the home front, the Bureau of Statistics finds him to be a good parent because he never interfered with the education of his kids which was a State-sponsored education. Was he Free? Was he Happy? The poet ends by asking two questions "Was he free? Was he happy? The question is absurd: Had anything been wrong, we should certainly have heard. This statement shows that even though the government knows each and every statistics and facts going on in ones life, they dont know the actual feelings or meaning to ones life. In other words, from the perspective of the State, it is much more important that people are not unhappy, and it does not matter whether they experience personal fulfilment or not. Conclusion: In conclusion, the world today is constantly progressing to be more technology efficient but on the other side of the spectrum, humans are striving to have their own personal identities and to be different from one another. On the contrary, the Unknown Citizen is in fact just following the very typical, normal, and average life style instead of being different and striving for individualism. The poem is thus a satire of standardization at the expense of individualism.