The Unknown Citizen Explication

               W.H. Auden creates an overall image of societal culture in his poem The Unknown Citizen. Auden’s poem is caked with subtle irony in every line that makes the reader almost miss the fact that the government is proud of this individual that they practically molded themselves. Throughout the poem there are lines like “He was found by the Bureau of Statistics to be….” and “our Social Psychology workers found…” or “Our researchers into Public Opinion are content”. It reminds me a little bit of 1984 in terms of the Ministries that control different facets of life like war, media etc. The man that is described as the “unknown citizen” seems to be a perfect individual. It even states that he has everything that makes him the “Modern Man”. There are no complaints against him, everything he did was for the Greater Community (whatever that means), and always paid his dues. If he is so unknown, how, why is it that these Eugenicists and psychologists and things like Producers Research and High-Grade Living know all about this man? They talk of him in high regards because he does everything right according to their standards. The first time I read this poem through, I too thought this person seemed great and that nothing was wrong with him. However, the last line of the poem is particularly startling as well as disturbing. The last line is “Had anything been wrong, we should certainly have heard”. I picture this man to be Winston in my mind (except the part that says the man has 5 children) because it is this person that followed the rules but you cannot tell if he really is happy or free. To answer the poem’s questions I do not really think he is because even though it is never said, I think this man is just going through life blindly. In modern society you do not really here of the guy who supports his children’s education or the man who does well at his job-you only hear of the people who make horrible decisions and corrupt their society. At first I thought that was what this poem was doing, focusing on the good people who do not get noticed, but it is actually more of the fact that there are so many things that watch what we do and define us as people when it is up to ourselves to define who we are.