https://youtu.be/nf1klIiCdwQ
The Unknown Citizen
was written in 1939, when Europe was in flames.It looked like a totalitarian system could prevail in Europe and take the place of democracy.
The Unknown Citizen is both satirical and disturbing. It was written by Auden to highlight the role of the
individual and the increasingly faceless bureaucracy that can arise in any
country, with any type of government.
The unknown citizen is reduced to a mere number, a series of letters; there is no name, no birthplace or mention
of loved ones.
From the beginning it is clear that the state is in
total control. It has created a complete
conformist, an ordinary man having a clean identity.
The state even calls him a saint, not because he was
holy or he was particularly religious in his acts.
He was a good role model and he did everything that was
expected by the government. He worked hard all his life and never did anyone
complain about him. He satisfied his employers.He paid his Union dues.
He was married with five children. He bought a paper
every day. His reactions to advertisements were normal in any way.He had all
the necessary material goods to a modern man-a radio, a car, a fridge…but he
never rebelled against the system, he never broke the rules. He served his country
when there was war he never questioned the proper opinions. He had some mates
and he liked having a drink with them. He never interfered with his children’s
education.
He is a perfect citizen, a perfect conformist. He is
the flawless result of a perfect system of propaganda, which takes away the
citizen’s real control of his life. He has lost his critical thinking, his
freedom of speech, so that an effective social unrest and protest is cut off
and made impossible.
He is just a number and his process of dehumanization
is complete. He didn’t have any original thoughts in his life, he just did
whatever the government wanted, he had no real identity
Auden reminds us about the potential dangers in any system of government, in any bureaucracy
anywhere, anytime - the individual can
lose their unique identity, become a non-person, without a voice, without a
say in how things are run.
At the end we have two rethorical questions, which are
two examples of dramatic irony, For the speaker the answer is Yes, but for the
reader the answer is No, of course.
No data or statistics about the man could have truthfully determined if his
friends really cared about him or if he was really happy and free. He will die
unremembered
The poem rhymes, but in a strange way.
Difficult words
EUGENIST he is
a scientist who works to improve society by manipulating the population
TO FUDGE present or deal with something in a vague or
inadequate way, especially so as to conceal the truth or mislead(= evade,
avoid)ex “The authorities have fudged the issue”
To FUDGE manipulate facts or figures so as to present
a desidered picture “ The company has
been fudging figures to make it look as though targets have been met” (=
falsify, fake, manipulate).
