The Unknown Citizen

The speaker appears to be someone familiar with records of bureaucratic institutions. He describes the ôunknown citizenö in a clinical manner. He tells us the Bureau of Statistics cites ôno official complaintö against the man who ôwas a saintö (Auden 2; 4). Everything the man did he did in service to the ôGreater Communityö (Auden 5). He worked in a factory, never got fired, owned a car, did not make waves as a laborer, and was liked by his peers. His response to advertisements was ônormal,ö he had ôeverything necessaryö materially, he had the ôright numberö of children and he ônever interferedö with his childrenÆs education (Auden 15; 20; 26; 27). Diction helps convey the irony of the deceasedÆs life, one that appears as unremarkable as the inscription on his tomb. Auden uses the words ônormal,ö ôright,ö and ôproperö to suggest that the deceased lived a routine life that never admitted anything outside of what was cons

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Some common words found in the essay are:
Communityö Auden, Planö Auden, Unknown Citizen, Bureau Statistics, rhyme scheme, deceased lived, nature manÆs, Bedford/St MartinÆs, ônormalö ôrightö ôproperö, deceased lived life, lived routine life, clinical manner, ôjs/07 378ö, poetic devices, brother-like bureaucracies, main theme, bureaucratic institutions, life death,
Approximate Word count = 970
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page)

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