"The Unknown Citizen" was written by the British poet W. H. Auden, not long after he moved to America in 1939. The poem is a kind of satirical elegy written in praise of a man who has recently died and who lived what the government has deemed an exemplary life. This life, really, seems to have been perfectly ho-hum—exemplary only insofar as this man never did anything to question or deviate from society's expectations. On the one hand, the poem implicitly critiques the standardization of modern life, suggesting that people risks losing sight of what it means to be an individual when they focus exclusively on the same status symbols and markers of achievement (like having the right job, the right number of kids, the right car, and so forth). The poem also builds a frightening picture of a world ruled by total conformity and state oppression, in which a bureaucratic government dictates and spies on its citizens' daily lives.
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The Full Text of “The Unknown Citizen”
The Full Text of “The Unknown Citizen”
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“The Unknown Citizen” Summary
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“The Unknown Citizen” Themes
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Oppression, Surveillance, and the State
Where this theme appears in the poem:- Before Line 1
- Lines 1-29
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Standardization and Conformity
Where this theme appears in the poem:- Lines 6-15
- Lines 18-24
- Lines 25-29
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Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “The Unknown Citizen”
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Before Line 1, Lines 1-5
...
... the Greater Community. -
Lines 6-8
Except for the ...
... Fudge Motors Inc. -
Lines 9-13
Yet he wasn't ...
... liked a drink. -
Lines 14-17
The Press are ...
... left it cured. -
Lines 18-21
Both Producers Research ...
... and a frigidaire. -
Lines 22-27
Our researchers into ...
... with their education. -
Lines 28-29
Was he free? ...
... certainly have heard.
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“The Unknown Citizen” Symbols
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Bureaucratic Departments
Where this symbol appears in the poem:- Line 1: “Bureau of Statistics”
- Line 5: “Greater Community”
- Line 10: “Union”
- Line 11: “Union”
- Line 12: “Social Psychology”
- Line 14: “The Press”
- Line 17: “Health-card”
- Line 18: “Producers Research and High-Grade Living”
- Line 19: “Instalment Plan”
- Line 22: “Public Opinion”
- Line 26: “Eugenist”
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The Modern Man
Where this symbol appears in the poem:- Lines 20-21: “And had everything necessary to the Modern Man, / A phonograph, a radio, a car and a frigidaire.”
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“The Unknown Citizen” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language
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Alliteration
Where alliteration appears in the poem:- Line 7: “factory,” “fired”
- Line 8: “Fudge”
- Line 12: “Social Psychology”
- Line 14: “Press,” “paper”
- Line 16: “Policies,” “prove”
- Line 17: “his Health-card,” “he,” “was once,” “hospita,” “cured”
- Line 20: “Modern Man”
- Line 23: “he held”
- Line 24: “peace,” “peace,” “war,” “went”
- Line 25: “population”
- Line 26: “parent”
- Line 28: “Was,” “he,” “Was,” “he happy”
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Allusion
Where allusion appears in the poem:- Line 8: “Fudge Motors Inc.”
- Line 19: “Instalment Plan”
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Caesura
Where caesura appears in the poem:- Line 8: “employers, Fudge”
- Line 21: “phonograph, a,” “radio, a”
- Line 24: “peace, he,” “peace: when,” “war, he”
- Line 28: “free?,” “ Was,” “happy? The”
- Line 29: “wrong, we”
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End-Stopped Line
Where end-stopped line appears in the poem:- Line 2: “complaint,”
- Line 4: “saint,”
- Line 5: “Community.”
- Line 7: “fired,”
- Line 8: “Inc.”
- Line 9: “views,”
- Line 10: “dues,”
- Line 11: “sound)”
- Line 13: “drink.”
- Line 15: “way.”
- Line 16: “insured,”
- Line 17: “cured.”
- Line 20: “Man,”
- Line 21: “frigidaire.”
- Line 23: “year;”
- Line 24: “went.”
- Line 25: “population,”
- Line 26: “generation.”
- Line 27: “education.”
- Line 28: “absurd:”
- Line 29: “heard.”
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Enjambment
Where enjambment appears in the poem:- Lines 1-2: “be / One”
- Lines 3-4: “agree / That”
- Lines 6-7: “retired / He”
- Lines 12-13: “found / That”
- Lines 14-15: “day / And”
- Lines 18-19: “declare / He”
- Lines 19-20: “Plan / And”
- Lines 22-23: “content / That”
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Irony
Where irony appears in the poem:- Before Line 1
- Lines 1-29
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Rhetorical Question
Where rhetorical question appears in the poem:- Line 28: “Was he free? Was he happy?”
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“The Unknown Citizen” Vocabulary
Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.
- Bureau
- Fudge Motors Inc.
- Scab
- Union
- Mates
- Instalment Plan
- Phonograph
- Frigidaire
- Eugenist
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(Location in poem: Line 1: “Bureau”)
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Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “The Unknown Citizen”
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Form
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Meter
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Rhyme Scheme
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“The Unknown Citizen” Speaker
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“The Unknown Citizen” Setting
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Literary and Historical Context of “The Unknown Citizen”
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More “The Unknown Citizen” Resources
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External Resources
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In Auden's Own Voice — "The Unknown Citizen" read by the poet himself.
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Auden's Life and Work — A valuable resource from the Poetry Foundation.
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The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier — More information about the Tomb that exists in Arlington National Cemetary.
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The Elegy Form — Ten brilliant elegies, taken from the classical era all the way up to the contemporary.
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The Five-Year Plans — An educational resource looking at the way Russia restructured its society in the 20th century.
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LitCharts on Other Poems by W. H. Auden
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