The Unknown Citizen Analysis

The poem “The Unknown Citizen” by W.H. Auden portrays a community which follows basic communist rules. The citizen is a man who had many accomplishments in life- all of which were for the betterment of the community- and at his death he was regarded as, it seems, just one number out of millions. The narrator seems to be praising the man for his conformity in every line of this poem- he speaks as though …showed first 75 words of 280 total…

…showed last 75 words of 280 total…The organizations and establishments of the government in this poem are capitalized to show importance- as though they are important; as though they dominate all. The community appears to be a great one, but in actuality it is communist and hazardous to society. This poem is a warning that complacency and conformity is death and that personal freedom- not communism- is the way to better one’s community and one’s own self. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ **Bibliography**