The Unknown Citizen Analysis

Hypocrites run society. Society puts both men and women under pressure to fit the image of perfection, yet when a person does achieve this so called perfection, others ridicule them for succumbing to peer pressure. In “The Unknown Citizen” by W. H. Auden, the speaker, a government bureaucrat, also takes on this two-faced attitude towards a man identified as the unknown citizen. At first glance, this poem seems like the well-deserved tribute to a man who lived the perfect life, but after a more detailed analysis, the speaker reveals his attitude towards his subject. The speaker uses diction and irony to criticize the citizen for following the standards set forth by society to encourage the reader to be brave enough to stand out as an individual.
At first the speaker talks about the citizen with a respectful tone, but the speaker's use of diction and irony change the tone to be a critical one. The speaker begins by praising the citizen for being,”One against whom there was no official complaint” (Auden 5). It would appear as though everyone aspires to be the kind of person that no one ever says anything bad about, but the diction of this line suggests that no one ever complained about the citizen because he did not stand out. Through the tone of this line, the speaker himself makes an unofficial complaint about the citizen for never having done something to cause controversy. People never completely agree, so the idea that this man never disagreed with anyone advocates for the fact that he did not verbalize his own ideas; he simply agreed with what everyone else had to say. The speaker gives more evidence to support this claim by stating that the citizen’s,”reactions to advertisements were normal in every way” (18). At first this line may also seem like a compliment from the speaker. After all, people would rather hear they had a normal reaction as opposed to having the wrong reaction. The repetition of the word every in several lines throughout the poem emphasizes the predictability of the citizen responses. By making the citizen seem boring, the speaker illustrates that it is better to stand
No one goes through life without struggling, but all people, especially those who suffer the most, hope that the story of their lives will live on to teach and assist the generations to come. The speaker uses this inherent desire to encourage people to stand out so that people will not forget them. The speaker criticizes, the citizen for having, “...the proper opinion for the time of year” (26). To say that this man’s opinions change with the seasons undermines the importance of having unique ideas. If people were not allowed to think or speak differently than others, then humans would still uncivilized ape-like creatures. Change is part of life and change comes from the development of new ideas from different opinions. The speaker, representing the State, dehumanizes the citizen by comparing his opinions to animals or plants which change as part of a cycle throughout the year to upset the read so that they will defend the voices of each individual against the society that oppresses the minorities of race, gender, or ideas. Another piece of crucial evidence found in the epigraph before the poem begins by labeling the citizen as,”JS/07 M 378” (Auden 1). This line shows that the State cares little about this man on a personal, mental or emotional level. Even though Auden wrote this poem before the tragic events of the Holocaust, the reference to the citizen as series of letters and numbers reminds modern day readers