"The Unknown Citizen" by W.H. Auden (read by Tom O'Bedlam)

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This poem was published in 1939 in The New Yorker, before WWII and George's Orwell's novel "1984". It seems quite similar. Orwell would probably have read this poem.
I'm impressed by Alfred Molina (Doc Ock) who you can har reading it here: • Video
It's a satirical reference perhaps to "The Tomb of the Unknown Warrior" in Westminster Abbey where a soldier lies buried who was killed in WW1. There are similar tombs in other cities. The picture is of the one at the Arc de Triomphe in Paris
There seems to be a mixture of British and American idioms. British companies don't use the designation "Inc"; Frigidaire too is more American. "Mates" and "scab" seem more British though, the latter meaning an employee who won't join a union or who works while others are on strike.
Eugenics was in vogue and had a following among intellectuals at that time, before WWII made its terrible consequences obvious.
It is Chinese traditional ideology that the Quality of Life depends on the "The Four Goods" . The Four Goods (si hao) have been variously defined. In Mao regime they were politics, economics, organisation and ideology. A more modern manifestation is good neighbours, good friends, good comrades and good partners. There are also the Four Goods of the mind - information, knowledge, understanding, and wisdom.
The concept that a fulfilled life depends on the possession of the Four Goods, here defined as a Phonograph, a Radio, a Car and a Frigidaire was also later paralleled in China when there were only four luxury possessions available; so The Four Goods became a Washing Machine, a Cassette Radio, a Television and a Refrigerator. Material ambition was limited to ownership of all four of these.
(To JS/07 M 378 This Marble Monument Is Erected by the State)
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 Instalment 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 the 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.

Пікірлер: 13

@lxmoya11 12 жыл бұрын

This poem is interesting primarily because of its title. Upon first reading it, one might think it proper to be called "The 'Known' Citizen" since the qualities this particular man exhibits are nonparticular, and are 'known' or expected by the powers that be - the Bureau of Stats, Fudge Inc, advertisers, government. I think Auden cleverly called this poem "The Unknown Citizen" because we really dont know anything about his identity independent of the demands imposed upon him by these powers.

@SpokenVerse 15 жыл бұрын

I thought I saw a precursor to "Big Brother is watching you." Lately I tried to read aloud the Room 101 passage from 1984 but my sympathy was with the rats...

@ZechsMerquise73 14 жыл бұрын

Auden's last line seems to show what he meant here. Its not simply about totalitarianism, but that states choose to remain in ignorance of their people's quality of life. People today, in the US, can have however many children they want, they can vote, and work toward a nice house or car. Are they happy? Generally speaking, no. And yet having these freedoms is all that a person is thought to need. In fact, sometimes, our society denies quality of life by its very nature.

@jackrim1 14 жыл бұрын

@KnighthawkXIV Auden's ability to distil things are what makes him my favourite poem. What you describe as sad and frightening is what I also feel, mixed with a definite sense of possibility and freedom at the same time. In other words: to know the realities and limits of life frees you from worries and allows you to enjoy yourself. Listen to his "As I walked out one evening" for a similar view on love and time. Whoever says that poetry is soppy and sentimental should read some Auden :)

@altosax1st 15 жыл бұрын

This is a fascinating poem. It's surprising how the hypothetical individual in the poem sounds so familiar, the fellow who everyone likes and fits into normal society... I disagree with the specifics of your analysis of the poem. While Orwell wrote on the world-turned-nightmare by totalitarianism, statistics were hardly kept about the will of the individuals (i.e. who he liked to drink with, etc). It rather reminds me of Kafka's theme of the dehumanizing quality of bueracracy.