Give a critical appreciation of "The Unknown Citizen" by W. H. Auden.

W. H. Auden, an English author, wrote this poem while
living in the United States.  “The Unknown Citizen” is a satirical poem based on the
very serious military unknown soldier which is a tribute to those
soldiers who died fighting for their country could not be
identified. 

The title establishes the subject of the poem
but  is never mentioned again. The poem is supposedly written on a statue somewhere
built by the state. The poem is intended to show a humorous approach to the modern world
of 1938 which takes itself too
seriously.

Narration

The point of view is third person with the
narrator including himself in the poem by using some first person pronouns: our
Eugenist; our teachers. The speaker is someone who works for a fictional government who
makes decisions that impact lives that he has never or will never meet.
 

Use of Literary
Devices

The poem uses few literary devices
other than it is a parody for the pretense of celebrating a life of a man that does not
exist.  It does rhyme with the rhyme scheme  varying throughout the poem.  The only
metaphor that is obvious is the unknown citizen compared to a
saint. Called a modern saint, it is apparent that this is a
facetious statement since he appears to be just an ordinary
man.

Ironically like the Big Brother concept, the poem
predicts or even warns about the future that could have  many organzations that watch
over and check on citizens.  The unknown citizen is declared a saint because of his
behavior and lack of breaking the rules. Part of the poem’s irony comes from the list of
accomplishments of the citizen which are not really achievements at all.  They are an
ordinary life. 
 

Summary

Here
are the things he did to merit his stance:

• The
  unknown citizen conducted himself for the greater good working well in a large industry
  and was never fired.


• popular among his
  peers.


• Read the newspaper every day and paid attention to
  the advertising


• Insured and had health
  care


• Borrowed money and paid it back in
  installments


• Fought in the
  war


• Married with just the right number of
  children


• Never interfered with the children’s
  education

Then the poet asks the sardonic
questions:

Was
he free? Was he happy? The question is absurd:

Had anything
been wrong we should certainly have

Heard.
 

Did anyone ask the man
about his feelings or what he wanted?  Was the man free to live his life without the
interference of the government? These are the real questions that the poet is
asking.

The statue that supposedly built really celebrates
the ordinary man who does not want to cause any problems and follows the accepted
pattern for a man's life.  The poet  really does not want man to be like the unknown
citizen but more independent and creative.