The Unknown Citizen

W. H. Auden, 1907 1973

(To JS/07 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 old-fashioned word, he was a
saint,
For in everything he did he served the Greater Community.
Except for the War till the day he retired
He worked in a factory and never got fired,
But satisfied his employers, Fudge Motors Inc.
Yet he wasnt a scab or odd in his views,
For his Union reports that he paid his dues,
(Our report on his Union shows it was sound)
And our Social Psychology workers found
That he was popular with his mates and liked a drink.
The Press are convinced that he bought a paper every day
And that his reactions to advertisements were normal in every way.
Policies taken out in his name prove that he was fully insured,
And his Health-card shows he was once in hospital but left it cured.
Both Producers Research and High-Grade Living declare
He was fully sensible to the advantages of the Instalment Plan
And had everything necessary to the Modern Man,
A phonograph, a radio, a car and a frigidaire.
Our researchers into Public Opinion are content
That he held the proper opinions for the time of year;
When there was peace, he was for peace: when there was war, he went.
He was married and added five children to the population,
Which our Eugenist says was the right number for a parent of his
generation.
And our teachers report that he never interfered with their
education.
Was he free? Was he happy? The question is absurd:
Had anything been wrong, we should certainly have heard.




The Unknown Citizen
In A Nutshell
During the 1920s and 30s, many American writers left the states to
become expatriates overseas, particularly in Europe. Ernest Hemingway, T. S. Eliot, and F.
Scott Fitzgerald are three famous examples. W.H. Auden, however, did the opposite. He
was an Englishman who moved back to "the colonies" (the U.S.) in 1939, at the height of
his creative powers. Auden wrote "The Unknown Citizen" while living in New York, and
the poem gives evidence of his culture shock when suddenly confronted with American-
style chaos and consumerism.

As a poet, Auden is a chameleon capable of writing in many different forms and styles.
He is considered a "modernist" writer, but his work is unlike that of any other poet of the
past century. At a time when many poets were experimenting with obscure forms and
new ways of using language, much of Audens poetry had more popular appeal. He was a
master, for example, of the rhyming couplet (AA, BB, etc.), the simplest rhyme scheme in
English. "The Unknown Citizen" is so accessible it almost sounds like an elaborate joke.

The poem is written in the voice of a fictional government bureaucrat someone who
sits at a desk and shuffles papers all day whose decisions affect the lives of people he
has never met. You could consider it a poetic version of George Orwells 1984 or Aldous
Huxleys Brave New World, in that it concerns a Big Brother-like state that knows
everything about its citizens except the things that really matter. But the poem doesnt
sound as pessimistic or tortured as either of these novels It uses good old-fashioned
humor to protest the numbing effects of modern life. Its not the most "intellectual" of
Audens works, but that doesnt make it any less powerful to read. "The Unknown
Citizen" is proof that great poetry doesnt have to take itself seriously all the time.
Why Should I Care?
"The Unknown Citizen" is a great poem to read in an election year. Fortunately, its
always an election year in the U.S., so its always a good time to read the poem.

Why? Because so many American politicians that run for office, no matter how
interesting and extraordinary they might be, pretend to be the equivalent of the "The
Unknown Citizen": a sensible, good worker and consumer, with no major vices or strange
opinions, and (usually) happily-married with bright, smiling kids. This is funny, because
we know that no ones life could possibly be so picture-perfect. Even if life were this
perfect, we would probably find that person to be dull and even creepy.

The person Auden calls "The Unknown Citizen" is a composite of information from every
poll and survey that politicians use to figure out what the people called "swing voters"
are really like. Union member? Check. Served in the military? Check. Reads the morning
paper? Check. Buys things on credit? Check. His life is measured in statistics. Nowadays,
the speaker wouldnt even have to visit "Bureau of Statistics" or "Producers Research" to
learn about the habits of "The Unknown Citizen"; he could just hop on the Internet.

With his completely inoffensive background, we think the Unknown Citizen would do
well running for office himself. But Audens point goes even deeper than that. He is
arguing that the myth of a perfect citizen is created by those in power. The fictional
monument and epitaph (inscription) that celebrate "The Unknown Citizen" are actually
the means by which this power is exercised.

The manipulative "State" in Auden's poem celebrates "The Unknown Citizen" as the ideal
citizen: he never thinks about whether a war is just or not, he creates a lot of
government revenue because he spends money on expensive, taxable appliances, and,
most importantly, he never rocks the boat by voicing opinions that are different from
those around him. He is the kind of person who says, "My country, right or wrong." This
reminds us of a quote from the writer G.K. Chesterton: "My country, right or wrong, is a
thing that no patriot would think of saying except in a desperate case." In Auden's
opinion, being a conformist and going with the flow all the time isnt just mind-
numbingly boring; its also dangerous and unpatriotic.

The Unknown Citizen Summary
We learn that the words we are about to read are written on
a statue ormonument dedicated to "The Unknown Citizen." The poem consists of several
different kinds of people and organizations weighing in on the character of our dear
"Citizen."

First, the not-so-friendly-sounding "Bureau of Statistics" says that "no official complaint"
was ever made against him. More than that, the guy was a veritable saint, whose good
deeds included serving in the army and not getting fired. He belonged to a union and
paid his dues, and he liked to have a drink from time to time.

His list of stirring accomplishments goes on: he bought a newspaper and had normal
reactions to advertisements. He went to the hospital once we dont know what for
and bought a few expensive appliances. He would go with the flow and held the same
opinions as everyone else regarding peace and war. He had five kids, and were sure they
were just lovely. In fact, the only thing the government doesnt know about the guy is
whether he was "free" and "happy," two utterly insignificant, trivial little details. He
couldnt have been unhappy, though, because otherwise the government would have
heard.
Whats Up With the Title?
"The Unknown Citizen" is a parody of the "The Unknown Soldier," a term used
to recognize people whose bodies are found after a battle but cannot be identified. The
U.S. Army uses metal dog tags to identify soldiers who are killed in action, but these tags
can be lost or melted, and sometimes its just impossible to locate or identify a persons
remains. In this case, many countries use the concept of the "Unknown Soldier" to
acknowledge the sacrifice of soldiers who die anonymously. France placed a Tomb of the
Unknown Soldier under the famous Arc de Triomphe in Paris; England has one in
Westminster Abbey; and the United States has one in Arlington National Cemetery.
Indeed, the epigraph implies that the poem is attached to a fictional "marble
monument" dedicated to the UC.

The concept of "The Unknown Citizen" suggests that the lives of manynormal people are
so conventional and uneventful that they might as well be unknown or anonymous.
Theyre just an empty suit or a face in the crowd. Of course, its only a metaphor. Normal
people dont often die anonymously though, sadly, it sometimes happens. With his
tongue in his cheek, Auden is trying to celebrate or recognize the "sacrifice" of the
Average Joe. However, this sacrifice is nothing like a soldiers, as Auden is well aware.
Rather, the Unknown Citizen is praised for being a good consumer, for buying the same
things as everyone else, and for not having opinions that might upset anyone. The
message to the reader is clear: you dont want to end up like the Unknown Citizen.
W.H. Auden was a British poet, author and playwright best known as a leading literary
figure in the 20th century for his poetry.
Synopsis
W.H. Auden, also known as Wystan Hugh Auden, was a poet, author and playwright born
in York, England, on February 21, 1907. Auden was a leading literary influencer in the
20th century. Known for his chameleon-like ability to write poems in almost every verse
form, Auden's travels in countries torn by political strife influenced his early works. He
won the Pulitzer Prize in 1948.
Early Life
W.H. Auden was born Wystan Hugh Auden in York, England, on February 21, 1907.
Raised by a physician father and a strict, Anglican mother, Auden pursued science and
engineering at Oxford University before finding his calling to write and switching his
major to English.
Auden pursued his love of poetry, influenced by Old English verse and the poems of
Thomas Hardy, Robert Frost, William Blake and Emily Dickinson. He graduated from
Oxford in 1928, and that same year, his collection Poemswas privately printed.
Career Success
In 1930, with the help of T.S. Eliot, Auden published another collection of the same name
(Poems) that featured different content. The success of this collection positioned him as
one of the leading influencers in literature in the 20th century.
Auden's poems in the latter half of the 1930s reflected his journeys to politically torn
countries. He wrote his acclaimed anthology, Spain, based on his first-hand accounts of
the country's civil war from 1936 to 1939.
More so, Auden was lauded for his chameleon-like ability to write poems in almost every
verse form. His work influenced aspiring poets, popular culture and vernacular speech.
He stated in The Complete Works of W.H. Auden: Prose: Volume II. 1939-1948, "A poet is,
before anything else, a person who is passionately in love with language."
After moving to America, Auden's work shifted away from political influences to instead
reveal more religious and spiritual themes. Another Time, a collection that debuted in
America, features many of his most popular poems, including September 1,
1939 and Musee des Beaux Arts.
Accolades followed Auden, including his 1948 Pulitzer Prize win for The Age of Anxiety.
Though best known for his poetry, Auden was also a distinguished playwright and author.
Personal Life
Auden wed Erika Mann, daughter of German novelist Thomas Mann, in 1935. The nuptial
did not last, as it was a marriage of convenience for her to gain British citizenship and
flee Nazi Germany.
Auden, ever the avid traveler, visited Germany, Iceland and China, and then, in 1939,
moved to the United States. On this side of the pond, he met his other true callinghis
lifelong partner, fellow poet Chester Kallman. Auden eventually became an American
citizen.
With his health waning, Auden left America in 1972 and moved back to Oxford. He spent
his last days in Austria, where he owned a house. Auden died in Vienna, Austria, on
September 29, 1973.