-Was he free? Was he happy?

The question is absurd: / had anything been wrong, we should certainly

/ have heard. The facts gathered on the Unknown Citizen also have a rather ominous aura, and it
seems likely that this poem is a searing commentary on the bureaucratic Western states that claim to
offer freedom but really do not understand the individual's unique needs

-This factual picture lacks the human voice, the flesh and blood person. The statistics lie; they
separate the facts and possessions of the man from the essence of the man.

-While a person might be persuaded that he is free or happy, the evidence of his life shows that he is
just one more cog in the faceless, nameless bureaucratic machine.

-At the end of the poem the poet asks two questions. Was he free? Was he happy? No government
statistics can ever answer these kinds of questions. By asking these questions, the poet is drawing our
attention to the question of freedom and happiness. And ironically, the poet suggests that the modern
man is slave to routine and he is incapable of understanding such concepts freedom and happiness.
Therefore, such a question in this context would be absurd. Thus, this poem The Unknown Citizen
is a bitter attack on modern society-its indifference towards individuality and identity. The only way
for an individual to survive in a regimented society is to conform, obey and live in perpetual mental
slavery. Such a creative is this unknown citizen who is utterly devoid of any urge for self-assertion.

-The state has created this expensive marble monument to the blandest person in the country, the one
least likely to mess things up for those in power.

-When there was peace, he was for peace: when there was war, he went. Who decides when there is
peace and when there is war? Usually, the people who deploy the troops: the government. Sometimes
war is inevitable and necessary, but sometimes its not, and it sounds like the Unknown Citizen was
not one to ask questions. If no one asks questions, the State can do almost whatever it wants.

-The Unknown Citizen is a portrayal of a conflict between individualism and government control.
The Unknown Citizen is a government's view of the perfect modern man in an unrealistic society.

-The motive behind the portrayal of an equal society is that it will eliminate hatred, envy and war.
While this proves true, the numerous side effects such as loss of identity, lack of originality, and loss
of personal feelings develop.

-The attempt to create an equal society to the extreme makes many governments more like a
dictatorship or communist system rather than a democracy. The society portrayed in the poem takes
the notion of perfection and equality to the extreme. The fact that nothing should be questioned shows
the obedience to the state that is needed to maintain the utopian society that the poem discusses.

As the world progresses so does the technology that surrounds us. With the ever-advancing
technological discoveries, inventions, and innovations it seems as if the humanity of the
world is depleting. Humans struggle for a personal identity, however; with technology in the
world today, it puts them back at square one. Humans are in a society today where theyre
labelled, given a number, and are being displayed more and more as faceless citizens. Thus,
the phrase The Unknown Citizen forms. The character being portrayed in the poem titled,
The Unknown Citizen by W.H Auden seems to be living the average, active life. Hes had
his jobs where he has dedicated the majority of his time to, he has been deployed to war, and
hes married and has five kids. However, the poem is a narrative through the eyes of a
bureaucrat in a government office looking into his life. This bureaucrat that sits in an office
all day reading and analyzing documents can see the materialism in ones life but not the
actual meaning, emotions, or feelings conveyed throughout his life. Throughout the narrative,
from start to finish, there are countless allusions used to refer to make-believe statistics and

Samin Azfar
government procedures. Some of these include, the sub-title To JS/07/M/378/ This Marble
Monument Is Erected by the State, where Auden states the quotation He was found by the
Bureau of Statistics, and another instance where Auden refers to the quotation, But satisfied
his employers, Fudge Motors Inc. All of these quotations from A.H Auden show exemplary
progress towards the general theme of: As technology generally becomes more efficient and
useful, humans are becoming less of an identity and more of a number or a statistic. We are
living in a world where every human being fights for their own individualism, however; the
abundance of technology advancements contradict what humans are fighting for and results
in people striving to be normal and to stray away from being distinguished as different.

First, the sub-title To JS/07/M/378/ This Marble Monument Is Erected by the State (Sub-
Title) alludes to a make-believe concept enforced by the government that every human being
must be classified by an alpha-numeric tag to distinguish who they are. Rather than being
able to have their own personal identity. Throughout the poem, the individual being described
is referred to as JS/07/M/378. The random letters and numbers followed by forward slashes
are all justified by the government. Each section of letters and numbers is supposed to
represent something. For example, the JS may refer to the first letter of his first name and
the first letter of his last name; where M maybe specifies whether he or she is male or
female. This quotation found in the sub-title is an ample example of the theme of the poem.
Humans are being given alpha-numeric names to be distinguished by; meanwhile, theyre
struggling for their own personal identity in a world clustered with the advancing technology.

Second, the quotation found by the Bureau of Statistics (1) allows the abstract concept of
numbers and letters being the reference to a human being instead of their actual name to be
more of a concrete concept. This quotation is symbolizing that a make-believe sector of the
government (The Bureau of Statistics) are actually finding people and categorizing them by
numbers, statistics, and facts. Where A.H Auden says, He was married and added five
children to the population (25) and Which our Eugenist says was the right number for a
parent of his generation (26) is merely just a statistic and fact that the government is
recording. It is almost as if the only thing that matters is the monetary value to which
everything one does. The initial quote and the two supporting quotes greatly contribute to the
general theme of the poem by alluding to a make-believe Bureau of Statistics where the
only thing that matters are the amounts and values you contribute back to society in place of
the actual things that matter.

Lastly, where W.H Auden says, But satisfied his employers, Fudge Motors Inc (8) is quite
ironic. The fact that he picked an automotive factory as his job (in my opinion) alludes to the
concept of the assembly line used in automotive plants. The assembly line could very well
relate to the process and journey of ones life. The concept of the assembly of a car is: only
one part can be worked on at a time per station. (i.e. Tires) This concept relates quite well
back to life in the theory of that generally you tackle one issue at a time, doing more than that
will often lead to stress, over-working, and unwanted issues. This, in turn, also happens in the
automotive assembly line. As per how this contributes to the general theme. The meaning
behind the assembly line and its correlation to life is that the Unknown Citizen being
analyzed in this poem is in fact just following the very typical, normal, and average life style
instead of being different and striving for individualism.

In conclusion, the world today is constantly progressing to be more technology efficient but
on the other side of the spectrum, humans are striving to have their own personal identities
and to be different from one another. Meanwhile the technology is putting all humans back at
square one. At the end of the poem, W.H Auden leaves a question. He says, Was he free?
Was he happy? The question is absurd: Had anything been wrong, we should certainly have

Samin Azfar
heard. This statement shows that even though the government knows every statistic and fact
going on in ones life, they dont know the actual feelings or meaning to ones life.

The individuals are conformists who are unwilling to be different or to take a contrary stand on their
lack of freedom. In "The Unknown Citizen", Auden ridicules the title character and everyone like him
for accepting all of the government's dictates and all of society's standards. Ultimately, this is exactly
what the state needs to remain in power and maintain the utopian society that the poem discusses.

Samin Azfar