the unknown citizen Flashcards
Body 1: when and what type?
1939
satirical poem
Body 1: what does it convey?
the harsh reality of realpolitik and the insignificance of individuality under a political bureaucratic regime
Body 1: what does it present?
the totalitarian society’s desire to control their citizens so as to retain the power they currently hold
Body 1: what does Auden explore?
explores the effects of wartime politics and oppressive regimes on an individual by epitomising the corrosion of individuality, as represented by the opening ironic epigraph, “To JS/07/M1378”, the numeric dehumanisation suggesting that the only purpose of an individual’s existence is to be a statistic for “the State” and their “bureaucracies”.
Body 1: what does he highlight like many of his other poems?
Auden highlights the political control that government have over their citizens through the increase and development of technology and surveillance that has led to a deterioration of privacy
Body 1: how is political control of gov shown?
shown by the capitalisation of named agencies “Social Psychology Workers”, “the Press” and the “Eugenist” who gather statistics on the man, later deeming him a “Saint”.
Body 1: what is he described using?
He is described using so many positively connoted words, despite his gross inability to really achieve anything great.
Body 1: why is it purposely ironic?
It is purposefully ironic that Auden imagines an unknown man whose “perfect” service to the “Greater Community” is labelled in this hyperbolic fashion
Body 1: what does Auden intend to provoke?
our logic with this image of a man who typifies conformity, being praised for never causing his government any trouble. In Auden’s context, it could be seen as a reference to the state-focused governments of Hitler, Stalin and Mussolini
Body 2: what is his purpose? how is it portrayed?
Auden’s purpose in highlighting the rejection of individuality and the need for conformity is exaggerated and portrayed through the Draconian governments
Body 2: how come, ironically, the poem doesnt have a regular rhyme?
purposely structured to contrast and satirise the character’s contentedness in his governed life despite “everything he did he served the Greater Community”.
Body 2: anaphoric rhetorical questions?
“Was he free? Was he happy? The question is absurd”
Body 2: what does anaphoric rhetorical questions ridicule?
also uses hypophora to ridicules society’s expectation of individuals, where Auden himself dismisses these questions in an acerbic and vitriolic fashion.
Body 2: what does Auden reveal?
the injustice and impersonal nature of politics that invades the private sphere and provokes the reader to make their own judgement about the character and his desire to conform/actions
