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He was found by the Bureau of Statistics to be
One against whom there was no official complaint,
And all the reports on his conduct agree
That, in the modern sense of an old-fashioned word, he was a saint,
For in everything he did he served the Greater Community.
Except for the War till the day he retired
He worked in a factory and never got fired,
But satisfied his employers, Fudge Motors Inc.
Yet he wasn't a scab or odd in his views,
For his Union reports that he paid his dues,
(Our report on his Union shows it was sound)
And our Social Psychology workers found
That he was popular with his mates and liked a drink.
The Press are convinced that he bought a paper every day
And that his reactions to advertisements were normal in every way.
Policies taken out in his name prove that he was fully insured,
And his Health-card shows he was once in hospital but left it cured.
Both Producers Research and High-Grade Living declare
He was fully sensible to the advantages of the Installment Plan
And had everything necessary to the Modern Man,
A phonograph, a radio, a car and a frigidaire.
Our researchers into Public Opinion are content
That he held the proper opinions for he time of year;
When there was peace, he was for peace; when there was war, he went.
He was married and added five children to the population,
Which our Eugenist says was the right number for a parent of his generation.
And our teachers report that he never interfered with their education.
Was he free? Was he happy? The question is absurd:
Had anything been wrong, we should certainly have heard.

2007-05-05 11:30:16 · 3 answers · asked by azzkicker_24_7 1 in Arts & Humanities Books & Authors

3 answers

The poem is about a time period when it was considered best to be mediocre and conforming and let the people "in charge" decide what was best for us. The unknown citizen didn't attract attention, always doing the socially accepted "right thing".
Today is it really a good thing to be so accepting of the rules that others put in place for us?
Who would jump up and down about global warming if everyone just minded their own business and didn't question?
Today we accept that not all decisions made by our leaders are the right ones and instead of just going OK, we ask questions, challenge decisions and assume that some of these decisions are mistakes.
If the unknown citizen lives among us today, he is considered an ostrich with his head in the sand, not a model citizen.

2007-05-11 20:48:44 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0 0

The Unknown Citizen is a poem by utilising W. H. Auden, written in 1939 and common revealed in 1940. it somewhat is the epitaph of a guy, as informed by utilising the state. The poem expresses in sardonic words the rather some same perspectives of collective society present in dystopian literature which contain George Orwell's Nineteen 80-4 (1948).It additionally satirizes the widespread government. solid luck!!!

2016-12-17 05:05:37 · answer #2 · answered by ? 4 · 0 0

The poem is about "the common man." The unsung worker who simply does his job without awards or recognization. He works 8 to 4 and goes home to sleep and work the next day. Just a common man.

2007-05-05 11:42:14 · answer #3 · answered by mac 7 · 0 0

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