Auden in his poem “The Unknown Citizen” criticizes the state and modern society. According to him, the state has devoid man of his freedom. He presents this notion in several ways. Firstly, Auden in this poem shows the loss of personal freedom by presenting how the lives of the citizens are being monitored. The press, the researchers at different government institutes, and even the Eugenists are in a conspiracy against the common man. He presents this notion by stating how the body of the unknown Citizen was found by the Bureau of Statistics.
The Bureau of Statistics had all the records of this person’s life. This citizen is titled a “saint” because “he served the Greater Community”. The Bureau of Statistics is used by the poet to represent the government and the upper class who is always in a conspiracy against the modern man. Even the perfect and ideal citizens of the state such as the unknown citizen are a puppet in the hands of the powerful.
The poet in detail presents the life of these ideal citizens and explains how he was being explored by the higher-ups. The body of this unknown citizen was found by the Bureau of Statistics who had a record of his life. They knew he was an ideal citizen as there had been no complaints against him.
They knew about his professional as well as personal life. This ideal citizen worked at Fudge Motor Inc. and he added five children to the population which according to the Eugenists was the optimum amount/ right amount needed for population growth. They even knew about his drinking habits. The poet here satirizes the so-called democratic system whose main focus was to give freedom to its citizens.
Secondly, the poet criticizes and laments the modern society
which focuses more on factual and statistical data rather than taking care of
the mental health of the people. The poet implicitly points out how the
government is concerned with hospital insurance and advertisements but pays
no heed to the individual's mind or ideas:
“Was he free? Was he happy? The question is absurd”.
W.H.Auden was a modern poet who witnessed the horrors caused by
the world wars. This poem also brings to light the loss of personal freedom due
to the oppressive attitude of the government. The reliance on the statistical
data of an individual’s personal life, according to the poet is both immoral
and unethical. This loss of personal or individual identity was also brought to
light by Harold Pinter in his drama “The Caretaker” where the
character Mac Davies, highlights the power of a mere piece of paper:
“They prove who I am! I can’t move without their papers. They
tell you who I am”.
Thirdly, Auden being a modern poet and a witness to the racist government laments the loss of personal freedom. He criticizes how the government dictates the people to go to war when these higher authorities want. Auden in most of his poems criticizes the dictators and fascist movements that were prominent at that time.
For instance, in his other prom on September 1,
1939, he criticizes the racist movement of Germany, who under the dictatorship
of Adolf Hitler wage a war against Poland because of which the whole of Europe
smelled like: “unmentionable adour of death”. Similarly, in this
poem, “The Unknown Citizen” he presents how the unknown citizen blindly used to
follow the government:
“When there was peace, he was for peace; when there was war, he
went”.
In conclusion, one may say that the poem “The Unknown Citizen” by W.H. Auden laments the loss of personal freedom in modern society and also ironically criticizes the state which dictates and oppresses the fundamental right i.e. freedom of the citizens.
This theme is constructed by Syeda Areeba Fatima, a permanent contributor
to the SOL Community.
Read Also, Theme of Oppressed State in W.H Auden's Poem 'The Unknown Citizen'
