What did the teachers say about The Unknown Citizen as a parent?
What did the teachers say about the Unknown Citizen as a parent? The teacher said that the children of the Unknown Citizen were getting the proper education that the government had insisted. As a father, the Unknown Citizen never interfered with their education.
What is the meaning of The Unknown Citizen by W.H. Auden?
“The Unknown Citizen” is a parody of an elegy (a poem to commemorate someone who has recently died). This elegy is delivered by “the State”—the government and its institutions—rather than by a loving friend or family member. In the poem’s world, a good citizen is one who does everything they’re is supposed to.
What is the effect of the rhyme in The Unknown Citizen?
Satiric Elegy in Rhyme These types of poems can be sad and mopey or grand and celebratory. “The Unknown Citizen” is of the grand and celebratory variety, but it’s also a satire, which means that it is making fun of the person it pretends to celebrate.
What is Auden poet The Unknown Citizen criticizing?
“The Unknown Citizen” by W.H. Auden describes, through the form of a dystopian report, the life of an unknown man. By describing the “average citizen” through the eyes of various government organizations, the poem criticizes standardization and the modern state’s relationship with its citizens.
Was the citizen in The Unknown Citizen happy was he free?
The unknown citizen was neither happy nor free. The poem raises this question at the end of the poem and then calls it “absurd,” saying: Had anything been wrong, we should certainly have heard.
What is the significance of title The Unknown Citizen?
The concept of “The Unknown Citizen” suggests that the lives of many normal people are so conventional and uneventful that they might as well be unknown or anonymous. They’re just an empty suit or a face in the crowd. Of course, it’s only a metaphor.
Why is The Unknown Citizen unknown?
This particular person is unknown because he is a complete conformist to social norms. There’s no reason for the state to know his name, because he poses no threat and is interchangeable with millions of other people.
What does Auden want to convey about the modern society through his poem The Unknown Citizen?
Through the poem “The Unknown Citizen,” Auden wants to convey the idea that modern society is overly regimented and controlled by the state. As a result, people have become dehumanized, treated as nothing more than cogs in a gigantic machine.
Is The Unknown Citizen an allegory?
It lets us know that the poem is an allegory, or an extended comparison to figures outside the poem. “The Unknown Citizen” is meant to recall the idea of “The Unknown Soldier,” or a soldier whose remains could not be identified after a battle.
What is the irony in The Unknown Citizen?
The main type of irony used in “The Unknown Citizen” is situational irony. It is ironic that the state is honoring the situation of a man brainwashed into lockstep conformity. It is also ironic that the state is so indifferent to the citizen it is “honoring” that it does not know his name.
Who is the narrator of The Unknown Citizen?
The Unknown Citizen by W.H. Auden The Poem “The Unknown Citizen” by W.H. Auden is a satire. Its narrator is the state. In this, the state pays tribute and describes a successful and positive product of its efficiency and effectiveness.
How is The Unknown Citizen title ironic?
… as going to war, but also his private life, such as having children. Thus, the title is ironic, and it represents the satirical view of the author who indirectly comments on the total control of the State over its citizenry. Thus, “The Unknown Citizen” reveals irony.