W.H. Auden’s “The Unknown Citizen” is an epitaph on a statue of a man who was simply ordinary and is celebrated for just that. The speaker, presumably some government worker who researched Unknown Citizen JS/07/M/378, romanticizes this man’s unremarkable life but still maintains a tone similar to that of an official, unemotional report. The Unknown Citizen is memorialized as a model for all other citizens in this “fictional” society because of his lack of individuality or uniqueness. He is the government’s idea of a perfect man—one who doesn’t stand out, break the rules, or think for himself.
The poem gives us certain details of the citizen’s life, but Auden purposely omits any details that would make the unknown citizen seem to be irregular. Auden’s goal in doing so was to emphasize the fact that this man is celebrated because he fits the norm—not because he stands out as an individual or as one who has done anything remarkable with his life. This fictional government prefers this mindless conformity because it allows it to better keep track of and control its citizens.
The poem itself was written in 1940 and technically doesn’t reference any specific or real events, industries, or organizations. However, Auden uses this fictional society in which the government keeps very close track of its citizens to satirize America—the country where Auden himself had just become a citizen. In fact, the poem seems to be a social commentary on America. Auden criticizes America for its celebration not of the individual but of the citizen who fits in and does not think for him- or herself.
Auden’s word choice is simple. Since this epitaph is supposedly inscribed on a monument to this ideal unknown citizen, the speaker of the poem purposely made the inscription easy to understand so that all citizens could know exactly what their government views as ideal.
The rhyme scheme of “The Unknown Citizen” is irregular; however, it definitely contains rhyme and each idea in the poem is contained by its own unique rhyme scheme. For example, the pattern of the first five lines is ABABA, and the first five lines are a general introduction about the unknown citizen and what a “great” person he was. The pattern of the next eight lines of the poem is CCDEEFFD. Although this is not a normal rhyme scheme, each line rhymes with one other line. This section of the poem is concerned with the citizen’s work life and friends from work. The next two lines, a rhymed couplet, are concerned with the world around the unknown citizen and his reactions to it. The next two are another rhymed couplet and are about his health and insurance. The pattern of the next eight lines is IJJIKLK. These lines discuss the extent to which the citizen was an ideal consumer and patriot. The next three lines all rhyme with each other and depict the citizen’s family life. The last rhymed couplet seems to be Auden’s own voice letting us know that the whole thing was one big satire—surely an individual’s happiness cannot be measured by government standards and statistics.
The second to last line of the poem uses two rhetorical questions to clue us in to Auden’s clear satire. It makes us aware of the fact that the poem never addresses the citizen’s happiness or fun aspects of his life. This man seems to be living the American dream: he has a steady job, a family, a few friends, and some modern conveniences. However, we know nothing about his happiness or his ability—or lack thereof—to express himself as an individual. But as Auden points out, the unknown citizen’s life is measured not by how he developed himself as a human being, but by how he contributes to the society in which he lived.
(WC 638)
Do you think this poem is satirical? Why? How can you tell?
In my paper, I assume that the speaker is a government worker. What other assumptions could you make about the speaker?
What facts do you think were left out about this citizen? What traits could he have had that would make him less of a model?
Are any of the things that he is revered for potentially negative? (i.e. staying out of his children’s education, materialism)
Do you think this “unknown citizen” is a real person or did this fictional government just invent him as a model?
Monday, April 21, 2008
Sunday, April 20, 2008
1984 freaks me out a little bit.
So this is blog 1 of 3 for my novel. I'm sorry I didn't do them on time. Life has been many kinds of chaotic lately and I apologize. I hope to finish the book and complete the other two blogs by the end of the weekend. Sorry again for my lateness.
-Ally
My initial reaction to 1984 could probably be summed up as "I'm so glad I don't live in this world and what is wrong with these people?" I think I would submit to being "vaporized," as they call it, rather than live in this world where there is no freedom to think except to agree with the government.
The first of many things that I found disturbing about this society, Oceania, was the telescreens that exist in virtually every building. The idea that someone, somewhere could be watching your every move and listening to your every conversation is terrifying—particularly because it is this totalitarian government’s workers on the other side of the screen. Orwell gives us a very specific description of the pains to which Winston goes to be able to hide from the telescreen long enough to write in his diary—one of many offenses that could potentially get him killed.
Only a few pages into the novel, I could tell that Winston was different from the other people in Oceania. He was not as easily duped as the rest of them. When Winston started writing in his diary, however, I began to doubt his sanity as well. The nonchallant language he uses to describe a popular movie in which "a ship full of refugees [is] being bombed somewhere in the Mediteranean" (8) and all kinds of other horrible things happen is truly scary. He, like much of the audience at that film, does not seem to appreciate or understand the horror of the situation. These poor people have no concept of compassion or sympathy because their government has forced those instincts out of them.
I began to warm up to Winston as we learned more about him through his journaling and through his inner monologue that we get to read along with. We witness his inner struggle to remember things, to remember the truth as it really is and not as the government wants everyone to remember it.
Winston is able to recognize that something is wrong with the world he lives in due to the fact that he works in Minitrue, the Ministry of Truth. However very little of the work he does at Minitrue involves truth itself. Winston's, and many of his coworkers', job is to take what has really happened and reshape it into a lie that suits the government and then becomes accepted as truth. This fabrication process is appalling. It is no wonder that the citizens of Oceania are so brainwashed--they couldn't escape it if they tried.
Another disturbing aspect of this society is their invented language, Newspeak. As I understand it, at this point in the novel, Newspeak is not spoken by most of the population except potentially as a second language. We learn more about Newspeak from Winston's friend Syme, who works on compiling the Newspeak dictionary. Syme tells us that Newspeak is supposed to allow people to narrow their minds and thoughts by eliminating words that are "unnecessary" and therefore making true self-expression more difficult. Of course this totalitarian government doesn't want its citizens to be able to think for themselves. If they could think for themselves, they might rebel or otherwise cause problems.
The only free-thinking people in society it seems, are the proles--the lower class who are allowed to think for themselves because they make up the proletariat and don't seem to matter as much as other citizens. The government somehow just allows them more freedom; however, I think eventually they will revolt.
I'm really enjoying the novel so far. It's sort of terrifying at some points but I still like reading it and find it interesting.
WC 612
-Ally
My initial reaction to 1984 could probably be summed up as "I'm so glad I don't live in this world and what is wrong with these people?" I think I would submit to being "vaporized," as they call it, rather than live in this world where there is no freedom to think except to agree with the government.
The first of many things that I found disturbing about this society, Oceania, was the telescreens that exist in virtually every building. The idea that someone, somewhere could be watching your every move and listening to your every conversation is terrifying—particularly because it is this totalitarian government’s workers on the other side of the screen. Orwell gives us a very specific description of the pains to which Winston goes to be able to hide from the telescreen long enough to write in his diary—one of many offenses that could potentially get him killed.
Only a few pages into the novel, I could tell that Winston was different from the other people in Oceania. He was not as easily duped as the rest of them. When Winston started writing in his diary, however, I began to doubt his sanity as well. The nonchallant language he uses to describe a popular movie in which "a ship full of refugees [is] being bombed somewhere in the Mediteranean" (8) and all kinds of other horrible things happen is truly scary. He, like much of the audience at that film, does not seem to appreciate or understand the horror of the situation. These poor people have no concept of compassion or sympathy because their government has forced those instincts out of them.
I began to warm up to Winston as we learned more about him through his journaling and through his inner monologue that we get to read along with. We witness his inner struggle to remember things, to remember the truth as it really is and not as the government wants everyone to remember it.
Winston is able to recognize that something is wrong with the world he lives in due to the fact that he works in Minitrue, the Ministry of Truth. However very little of the work he does at Minitrue involves truth itself. Winston's, and many of his coworkers', job is to take what has really happened and reshape it into a lie that suits the government and then becomes accepted as truth. This fabrication process is appalling. It is no wonder that the citizens of Oceania are so brainwashed--they couldn't escape it if they tried.
Another disturbing aspect of this society is their invented language, Newspeak. As I understand it, at this point in the novel, Newspeak is not spoken by most of the population except potentially as a second language. We learn more about Newspeak from Winston's friend Syme, who works on compiling the Newspeak dictionary. Syme tells us that Newspeak is supposed to allow people to narrow their minds and thoughts by eliminating words that are "unnecessary" and therefore making true self-expression more difficult. Of course this totalitarian government doesn't want its citizens to be able to think for themselves. If they could think for themselves, they might rebel or otherwise cause problems.
The only free-thinking people in society it seems, are the proles--the lower class who are allowed to think for themselves because they make up the proletariat and don't seem to matter as much as other citizens. The government somehow just allows them more freedom; however, I think eventually they will revolt.
I'm really enjoying the novel so far. It's sort of terrifying at some points but I still like reading it and find it interesting.
WC 612
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