A Deeper Look Into “The Unknown Citizen”
...ry aspect of the man’s material life, concluding that he was normal in every way, having everything that an average man desires. The imagery in the first stanza leads the reader to believe that this man was satisfied because he “had everything necessary to the Modern Man”(20), a car, a radio, frigidaire, and a phonograph. In the second stanza the speaker’s tone becomes sarcastic and finally reveals to the reader its true intent the analysis. The diction and imagery of the first stanza focuses on things society can observe. McElyea 2 Auden makes good use of rhyme scheme. There is a definite but very irregular rhyme scheme to this poem. Almost every other line rhymes with the previous line, giving the poem somewhat of a rhythm. Having rhyme and rhythm makes it more interesting and easier to read. Without this, the poem would be dull and boring. Diction from this poem such as, phonograph and frigidaire gives hint to the setting or time frame of the poem. The setting of this poem takes place in the nineteen forties. During this time, the first world war was ending and Americans were starting to settle back down. This was about the time of the great baby boom. The lines, “When there was peace, he was for peace; when there was war, he went. /He was married and added five children to the population”(24-25) supports the baby boom theory because American men were just coming back from the war and this was the time when there was a large number of pregnancies. The subtitle of this poem states that this poem was inscribed on a marble monument, which was erected by the state (government). This suggests that the speaker or persona of the poem is the people of the government because the monument was created by the government officials. This marble statue for the Unknown Citizen is similar to the monument dedicated to the Unknown Soldier. The monument to the Unknown Soldier is a symbol to honor all soldiers who have died in battle by sacrificing their lives for their country. Auden uses the monument for the Unknown Citizen in a satirical sense. It is a memorial to the faceless citizens who served their country, but the state knows nothing meaningful about the...