He enjoys the flair of popularity and what others think of him as long as he does not upset anyone, he continues to please others, which pleases him. The singular job applied to each worker highlights the simple job asked of reliable citizens, to remain silent and certain of institutionalized anonymity.įurthermore, Auden portrays the unknown individual as a successful experiment, “our Social Psychology workers found that he was popular with his mates and liked a drink” (15-16), further describing him as an aloof and distracted person.
The assembly line demonstrates the division and regulation placed on the individual, which not only happens in the workforce, but in society in general. Auden sardonically mocks Ford, who created the contemporary assembly line, to juxtapose the flow of production to the flow of an ordinary person’s life. For instance, “ satisfied his employers, Fudge Motors Inc.” (11), by maintaining in assembly with his counterparts and not stirring any problems. The significance of these entities illuminates the variety of institutions the anonymous person had to please in a “respectable” fashion. The anonymous individual, merely just a statistic, blends in the ocean of other typical average Joes and does not make a significant difference to the daily flow of civil society.Įqually important as Auden’s pinpoint of the unknown citizen to a statistic, Auden mentions grand entities, such as The Press, Big Business companies, Unions, etc.
The verbal irony behind serving the community without providing services at war shows the unidentified person, in fact, lacks purpose and does not even cause any problems for the head honchos in charge. Except for the War till the day he retired” (8-9). The sarcastic allusion creates a paradox of the heroism of a law-abiding citizen: when does a hero ever go unknown if he/she fought for the vast majority? Auden writes, “For in everything he did he served the Greater Community. The anonymous person loses his individual identity, reducing him to the status of descriptive statistics. The heroism of a conformist illustrated in Auden’s poem ironically illuminates the loss of identity every individual gives up by conforming to the government’s pressing laws and services that identify citizens more as a number rather than an individual.Īuden starts off his poem with a facetious allusion to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, “To JS/07/M/378 This Marble Monument Is Erected by the State” (1-3), emphasizing the identification of a nameless citizen.
Auden’s “The Unknown Citizen,” acts as a satirical effigy noting the ambiguity of individuality in modern society.
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