(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 wasn't 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.
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 wasn't 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.
Respond to ONE of the following prompts.
· How does the poem speak to
the theme of social responsibility?
· Who is the speaker of the
poem, how do you know, and how does that affect the meaning?
· Where is the irony in the
poem, and how do you know it's irony?
· Discuss the significance of
the title.
· What point do you think
Auden was trying to make about modern society?
· How does the rhyme scheme
contribute to the poem's meaning
What point do you think Auden was trying to make about modern society?
ReplyDelete- I believe that Auden is trying to make a very valid point about modern society. Overall I think he is trying to say that society's idea of what being happy and "perfect" is will never correspond with true happiness. Society loves people conforming to what it thinks is right. In the poem he buys all the things he needs to be a "Modern Man," he has all the opinions he should (that conform with the general opinion), he joins the war because that is what society thinks he should do. We never know if that's what he wants to do. We never know if what he did is what made him truely happy. And honestly, although it is nice to be an ideal citizen, you have to break the mold and explore yourself and do what you love to be happy. Even if those things aren't what society likes.
Jon Uhlenhake
Jon, "Overall I think he is trying to say that society's idea of what being happy and "perfect" is will never correspond with true happiness." I think your statement is so true. It is interesting that we don't know his name, since he never broke the mold.
Delete-The point that I believe that Auden was trying to make about modern society is that we sometimes go through the motions in our lives; we go to work, we go to school,. We get married, have kids, and grow old together. But rarely do we take the time to enjoy the small and beautiful things in life. We don't take the time to rebel or let ourselves become really angry, really mad , sad, or happy. Because if anything had been wrong we should certainly have heard. I think that people do what their told by parents, teachers, and society. We become so accustomed to what we are supposed to do that we rarely think for ourselves. Like in the poem, he worked in a factory, he bought the paper everyday, he was married and had children. He did all these things but was he truly happy, or what he thought was happy?
ReplyDelete-Addison Baele
Addison, You comment on a very important aspect of this poem, which is Auden's comment on what it really means to be a citizen. Does it mean that we simply sit back and live the life society expects of us, or do we celebrate how unique each individual is and enjoy the small things in life that makes us different?
Delete· What point do you think Auden was trying to make about modern society?
ReplyDeleteHappiness isn't a quotient of your contribution to society. It's not the sum total of what you did with your life. It's not a quantity. And your satisfaction with life isn't the sum total of the events, either. This man did everything he was "supposed" to, so society assumed he was happy. He was married and had children and served society like he was "supposed" to. He satisfied everyone's image of the Perfect Man. But all of this holds no regard for his happiness. Man, this just...this gave me chills at the end. We don't know how he died. We don't know how old he was, anything about those circumstances. All we know is that he lived a textbook "full" life, and that was all society cared about. He'd fulfilled his duty as an example of the Perfect Man, and that was all that mattered about him. That was all that stuck. I can't stop thinking that the poem is implying that there's something that everyone missed about him, something no one noticed because they never looked past his Perfect Man exterior. Was he depressed, dissatisfied? Was he a heavy drinker? Was he gay but closeted? Did he love his wife and kids? Did his wife love him? Did he have children that were stillborn? The thing is, none of that matters to society. None of it makes a difference. They're only concerned with the face he put on for the world every day, a face he may have hated to wear, a face that might have been destroying him each day.
But really, it's ridiculous to assume he could be hurting. After all, had anything been wrong, we should certainly have heard.
Cate, "We don't know how he died. We don't know how old he was, anything about those circumstances." You are absolutely right, and aren't these the things that really matter? They are what make him an individual, what sets him apart from others. When you list the what ifs, and then say "The thing is, none of that matters to society. None of it makes a difference," you hit a major theme, which is that perhaps society forgets to value the individual, the unique. I love how you ended your entry.
DeleteHow does the rhyme scheme contribute to the poems meaning?
ReplyDeleteThe poem has a steady rhythm that continues throughout both pages. The man the poem is speaking about has a steady rhythm to his life as well. He goes through the courses of life and doesn't miss a beat by completing everything he should do and was expected to do. Just like how it was expected for the steady rhythm of the poem to continue. The poem didn't ever change its rhythm and do something unexpected such as change its melody.
Autumn, Great job pointing the rhythm out. You explain some important ideas, but think now about their significance. What message is Auden sending?
DeleteWhere is the irony in the poem, and how do you know it's irony?
ReplyDeleteThere are obvious examples of irony portrayed throughout this poem. One example is simply the title itself, "The Unknown Citizen." This is ironic because even we do not know the citizen's true name, we end up knowing so much about his life and what the man does. So this "unknown" character we see really isn't that unknown to us at all in the end.
Another act of irony portrayed in this poem is at the very end, when the author author writes in the last stanza: "Was he free? Was he happy? The question is absurd: had anything been wrong, we should certainly have heard." The reason I find this comment to be so ironic is because it seems like the society was only searching for the good in the unknown citizen in the first place. They obviously have the tools, technology, and resources to find out if this man had done anything wrong.
...It's often like this in modern times, too, really. Society wants to make everything -- and everyone -- seem perfect. Flaws are usually skimmed over. So, was the man free? Was he happy? As long as you have your life together on the outside, society does't even want to know.
-Courtney Stolba
Yes, the ending statement is quite ironic. We would never know whether he was happy or unhappy because he would never have said so. He lived according to society's expectations. Well analyzed.
DeleteHow does the poem speak to the theme of social responsibility?
ReplyDeleteI think what W.H. Auden was explaining social responsibility in many ways. Social responsibility means an ethical theory that an entity, be it an organization or individual, has an obligation to act to benefit society at large. He portrayed the unknown man as a bland person who followed society rules and what was expected of a man in that time period. It said in the poem, “When there was peace he was for peace; when there was war he went.” He kind of hopped on the bandwagon, going to war when he was needed, because, he felt obligated to serve his country by society’s rules. I feel like if the unknown man did anything unusual, out of the ordinary, or something that wasn’t considered “manly”, he would be judged by society so he kept a normal life staying low key. Society will never know who the unknown man was because he didn’t make a huge impact besides being a person living a planned life.
Kaylinn,
Delete"Society will never know who the unknown man was because he didn’t make a huge impact besides being a person living a planned life." You hit on the major theme of this poem. The man is "Unknown," because he has never had courage to step outside expectations of society and show his real self.
Discuss the significance of the title.
ReplyDeleteThe poem is called "The Unknown Citizen." I think that the title is significant to the poem because the poem talks about how the man seems to be perfect--he does his job well, he is healthy, he keeps up with the news, and his technology is up to date. He also eventually marries and has five children, which implies that he's likable since someone fell in love with him. He's pretty much society's perfect man for the time period. The poem never tells us what his name is, because for this time period, it could be describing anyone, making him truly "The Unknown Citizen."
You touch on an important point, that we don't know his name because for the time period, it could be describing anyone. However, what is Auden's feeling on this? What is the tone of the poem? Does Auden think this is a good thing that this man didn't stand out? Why or why not?
DeleteWhat point do you think Auden was trying to make about modern society?
ReplyDeleteIn the poem "The Unknown Citizen" I think that W. H. Auden was communicating the point that modern society seems to be all about numbers and statistics, and how that determines the worth of a person instead of their happiness. I also think Auden was trying to make the point that even though he met the standard of a perfectly normal life was it actually what this man wanted and not what was just expected of him.
Aaron Stachnik
Very true. Auden seems to feel "society seems to be all about numbers and statistics." Expand on this idea that Auden uses irony at the end to express his tone.
DeleteDiscuss the significance of the title
ReplyDeleteThis man discussed within the poem had a lot of the aspects of his life described. "His reactions to advertisements were normal in every way"
"Which our Eugenist says was the right number for a parent of his generation."
"That he held the proper opinions for the time of year" These would describe a regular model citizen, words like proper, right, normal. But if he was such a model citizen, than why would he also be an unknown one? Well besides the fact that we never actually learn his name, and he is therefore unknown to the reader, maybe the author was trying to say something about being a societies idea of normal. Nobody remembered Martin Luther King Jr. because he was what society wanted him to be. Nobody remembered the founding fathers because they were average for the time. Heck, nobody took notice of Miley Cyrus because she was our idea of a normal girl. The point of all these examples are that no one recognized these people for being normal. They were recognized for being leaders, standing apart from the crowd. But since this man has given up any aspects of his personality that would set him apart to be normal, he will remain unknown to us.
Who is the speaker of the poem, how do you know, and how does that affect the meaning?
ReplyDeleteWe will never really know for sure who the speaker of this poem really is because they don't give us a name, personality, or gender. Whenever the "narrator" goes to make a point based on pure facts, he uses the names of the organizations he's referencing: "Eugenist", "Social Psychologist workers", "Public Opinion", etc. If this poem was narrated by a man who was actually known by society and by his family, friends, and colleagues, then maybe his views on himself as a person and community member would be different. But since we have an "unknown narrator" who's telling us, the readers, about an "unknown man" in society, then his views are going to be significantly different. One could also argue that it wouldn't have mattered even if we had known the identity of the narrator or the "unknown man" because the basic plot of the poem is that the man being referenced is unknown to society in general, while providing facts about him that the "narrator" and other organizations found to be solid.
What point do you think Auden was trying to make about modern society?
ReplyDeleteThe point being made about modern society is simple and to the point. But I'm not going to make this simple and to the point. To begin, the poem isn't about the unknown man, it is about the narrator talking about him. The narrator represents a government of a country, more specifically the country that the unknown man lives in. The message is that governments have stopped caring, if they ever had, about the country's citizens. The poem shows this by not giving the man a name, and with all the reports and such spoken about throughout. It begins with all these "facts" about a man. All of these reports show that the man is doing exactly what his government wants him to. He hasn't stepped out of line. He's kept with society. He's never thought for himself. He has merely been conformed to what the government wants him to be. And the government doesn't care that he hasn't thought for himself, they don't care about his feelings or his opinions (as shown in the last two lines), and they especially don't care about his name. They only care about the reports and statistics about him that show how "good" of a citizen he is. A "good" citizen. A citizen who is healthy, who never disrupts the peace of society, who works to build things for the corporate, and a citizen who fights the wars the country thinks it needs. A good citizen is a conformed citizen. Like a box, compressed into whatever the government wants them to be. Simply, the poem is saying the governments no longer care about the happiness of the citizens, but instead for how much they can make every man into a little controllable box.
That's a very good point!! We won't ever know who this man really is, because we only know that the narrator of the poem is the leader of the society in which the unknown man lives. The country or city-state has this pre-conceived notion that a good citizen is someone who just goes with the flow, and does whatever they tell him to do, but people should be willing and allowed to think for themselves. Well explained!!
DeleteWho is the speaker of the poem, how do you know, and how does that affect the meaning?
ReplyDeleteI think the speaker of the poem is a social or government worker of some kind, this is made evident by the fact that a name or any kind of distinguishing characteristic is never mentioned for the subject of the poem which shows the narrator's indifference towards the character as if they have many other things to do, like other people. The narrator also seems as if they could be being questioned about the person and this is a series of answers to a series of questions. This affects the meaning by giving the poem more of a monotonous feel as if you're reading it in a dreary government building and makes it seem far less personal.
What point do you think Auden was trying to make about modern society?
ReplyDeleteI think the point that Auden was trying to make is that some people just do what every body else did. Like in the passage it said, "When there was war he went." Depending on the time period, many people hear of a war and want to volunteer to help fight. Sometimes doing what the common people are doing may not be in the best interests for yourself and others. People may like to do other things or not partake in something like a war because it is not who they are. In the poem, it described what the life of a common man was. But sometimes people just do those things because it seemed like the right thing to do. Just because it made some people happy, doesn't mean you will be happy. This person may not have been happy or take time to truly find who he really was.
Discuss the significance of the title.
ReplyDeleteThe title shows the general theme of the poem. You have a marble monument built to honor this man who was by all means perfect. Did well at work, didn't start fights, paid his bills on time, had all the usual technology, got married, had kids, the usual. JS/07 M 378 is all we know about him, and even then there's nothing specific there at all. Nothing about the man in the title, nothing about the man in the poem. But the marble monument and the poem are singing his praises. The title really sets the feel of the poem, giving people a specific ideal to follow without having anything personal about it at all.
Discuss the significance of the title.
ReplyDeleteI believe the poem was titled, The Unknown Citizen, for a very specific reason. First, the word unknown plays a significant role in the title. I believe the word unknown describes the normality and the blend of citizens. Everyone is viewed as perfect on the outside if they act average. People just assume that each citizen performs a daily routine each day. Numerous people stay reserved and are not willing to put themselves out there. I think the title in this poem describes a reserved man who does everything to the bare minimum and lives a typical life. Auden puts a twist on the end of the poem by saying, “Had anything been wrong, we should certainly have heard.” This twist allows for the mind to think about what is truly going on inside that individual. We have no idea what the truth behind this story is. Therefore, by judging people on the outside by their actions can result negatively. People may blend in with society, but their thoughts are unique to them. I believe the entire poem is based on the significant title of The Unknown Citizen.
Discuss the significance of the title.
ReplyDeleteThe poem is titled "The Unknown Citizen". This title sets a tone for the poem as being impersonal. We never get a name or any personal information about the person this poem is about. He is represented only by a few letters and numbers. The speaker says that "he paid his dues", "he bought a paper everyday", "he held the proper opinions", and "he was fully insured". These describe the perfect citizen but it doesn't tell us if that citizen was happy or if he was satisfied with his life. The speaker also states "In the modern sense of the old-fashioned word, he was a saint" and "In everything he did he served the Greater Community". If he was a saint why wouldn't they bother to make his name the title? Because not having opinions that were unique to him makes him a true "Unknown Citizen".
What point do you think Auden was trying to make about modern society?
ReplyDeleteI think that the main point he was tring to get across was that there is more too life then just what other people say too do. From his point of view he probably felt that most people went through their lives and always did what their "superiors" said never taking the time to think outside the box and come up with their own ideas. In some ways I see the same things around me in my life, and do people like this mindless life style? Probably not but most people are afraid to change of stray away from the concrogation instead they just do what they have to do to seem normal. Thats what I feel is the main point Auden was trying to get across to his readers.
What point do you think Auden was trying to make about modern society?
ReplyDeleteI believe that Auden is trying to show the readers that this "perfect" man is only perfect by the governments standards, not anyone elses or his own. The government is forcing what is ideal to them down the society's throat and this man has become a robot and accustomed to it. It is not acceptable for him to be the slightest different, and he can not even have his true own opinion. "Our researchers into Public Opinion are content, That he held the proper opinions for the time of year" Never once does it mention anything about how the man feels, truly.
" Was he free? Was he happy? The question is absurd:
Had anything been wrong, we should certainly have heard"
The government does not even care about the citizens happiness enough to even consider the "absurd" question of the mans happiness, because according to the statistics and expectations, there's no reason he wouldn't be happy.
Maggie Hatfield
Discuss the significance of the title:
ReplyDeleteThe only thing we know about the title is that it is showing that JS/07 M 378 is dead, and that a monument was built in his name to show what a "perfect" man he was. He was a nice man who worked, raised a family, and had a pretty normal life from what we know. But the real feel of this poem begins with the title because it helps you follow the poem from the perspective that he isn't alive anymore for reasons that are unknown to us. It sets a specific feeling to the poem, which was that nobody really knew him the way everyone thought they did, hence the title's name. We don't know how he died, and we don't really know enough from the poem to say that his life was truly perfect. There aren't enough details to actually know for sure that there wasn't a serious problem he was having. This man could have had a more awful life than the author portrayed it to be. It was from a perspective that may or may not have known this man as well as he thought he did.
Discuss the significance of the title:
ReplyDeleteThe poem is titled " The Unknown Citizen". The title is so vague to personal information to the man as is the title. The poem refers to him at one point as JS/07 M 378, a label. In the poem, there are no personal descriptions about him besides how "he held the proper opinions for the time of year" and "He was married and added five children to the population, Which our Eugenist says was the right number for a parent of his generation." By this citizen allowing the government to shape his morals and opinions and statistic, he is losing what makes him him, and what makes him unique. And this is why, he is unknown.
Aubri Applegren
The poem shows the theme of social responsibility by showing how he does his duty. It states that "no official complaint." He must be responsible in society since no one has complained about him like most people have at least once. He also is by never getting fired. He must be doing his duty good otherwise he would have been fired. It say that "For in everything he did he served the Greater Community" which also means he served society and had a responsibility in society. He paid his dues so by paying them society was never behind on anything which is a big responsibility that people still can't do to this day. He was popular with his mates which makes him social. It says that he went to war when there was war. That is a huge responsibility because with out people fighting for our freedom, we would not be so that is a huge social responsibility. Eugenist said that 5 kids was the right number to have which is how many he had. He has given society the next generation of people who could be very valuable someday. So as you can see, the poem shows greatly the theme of social responsibility.
ReplyDeleteNathaniel Sheets
Discuss the significance of the title.
ReplyDeleteThe poem was titled The Unknown Citizen. I believe this title was significant because the story is about a man and dozens of examples about how he was a good citizen. He was a good worker for his company, paid all of his bills, served the greater community, and kept up to date with modernization. However, The Unknown Citizen is appropriate for this poem because society never actually knew him. They had all the stats, information, and background on this man, yet they never knew if he had a fulfilling life, was happy, or what personality this man may have contributed. He is simply another stat, number, and good citizen in their eyes. The title used for this poem portrays society's views of citizens very well by calling them unknown.
Tia Sherman
Discuss the significance of the title.
ReplyDeleteThe poem is entitled, "The Unknown Citizen". Contrary to its name this citizen is in fact known about in great depth. The poem describes his good nature, career, family, popularity, war years, and other aspects that would be associated with the ideal citizen. Regardless though of all this knowledge of him and his life, he is still referred to as the unknown citizen. For this reason, I believe that this poem was not describing the life of an actual man. The man was merely a form of symbolism to describe what society believes the ideal citizen should be. Near the beginning it says, "He was found by the Bureau of Statistics to be" afterwards preceding to list his qualities. This implies his qualities and traits were those the bureaus of statistics found to be what most people believe the ideal citizen should have. The poem also quotes, Had anything been wrong, we should certainly have heard.” This suggests that if the people surveyed had different ideas of the ideal citizen, society’s image of the perfect man would change based off the statistics collected. Therefore the man described is indeed unknown due to the fact he is not real, but a form of symbolism.
Sam Schnibben
What point do you think Auden was trying to make about modern society?
ReplyDeleteI believe that Auden is trying to show that this "perfect man" is only perfect by the government standards. He is saying that the government is controlling him and not giving him a voice. "Our researchers into public opinion are content that he held the proper opinions for the time of the year" is saying that he must agree with what the government wants or he must be quiet. At the end it says "Was he free? Was he happy? The question is absurd: had anything been wrong, we should certainly have heard." This is saying that it is "absurd" to think that he wasn't happy or free because he did everything the government told him to do so why wouldn't he be happy and free. Its also saying that if he wasn't the government would tell us.
Liz Foster
Discuss the significance of the title.
ReplyDeleteI think that the title "The Unknown Citizen" is significant because in the poem never says who they are specifically talking about. It only say general things that could possibly be anyone. They said that he was a "saint", "he wasn't scab or odd in his views", "he had everything necessary to a modern man", and they said that "he was married and added five children to the population." All these things said in the poem don't really make this citizen stand out from possibly other citizens. So that's why this title truly fits the poem because you don't who it is talking about. The poem just gives a general description of someone who is a "normal" citizen.
I think that what Auden is trying to say about modern society is that just because you do good things and what would be viewed as a happy life, in reality doesn't mean that you are truly happy. I think that Auden shows that the man isn't truly happy because I believe that he is saying that the man committed suicide. This shows that our society is bases people off of the things that we do and not what we really want to be doing. Society viewed this man as having a perfect life but it wasn't actually so perfect to him.
ReplyDeleteDiscuss the significance of the title
ReplyDeleteThe title "The Unkown Citizen" is very mysterious. In this poem, the descriptions of the citizen are that of just a regular old Joe Shmoe. This citizen blends into the crowd and follows the status quo.
What point do you think Auden was trying to make about modern society?
ReplyDeleteI think Auden was trying to point out that everyone assumes that your life is good and you have no problems. It goes into detail about how he lived up to the standard of "normal" and acted as everyone expected him to. Everything in the poem shows that he acted like everyone else, there is nothing to tie him to a specific personality. Auden also could have been saying if you live how everyone else does you won't leave your mark on the world, you will very quickly be overlooked.