The Tone of Irony in The Unknown Citizen Essay -- Philosophy, W.H. Au

The Unknown Citizen, a poem written by W.H. Auden, alludes to a time of great change in American history, where the poem is meant to mock the political sciences viewpoint of the perfect role model for an unrealistic, impractical citizen. The author, W.H. Auden, writes and intends for the historical context of his poem to be in the late 1930s, when America was going through the Great Depression. Citizens were losing a sense of nationalism for America and had begun to negatively view the government. During this time period, the government had also begun to trade Social Security cards with personalized federal numbers to American citizens, which was the mark of depersonalization in Americas political system. As a result, the tone is one of mockery, satire, and most importantly, irony. The ironic outlook is evident in some of the following aspects of the poem the speaker, the portrayal of the speaker, the audience, the speakers situation, incongruity amongst the characters words and th e situation, use of diction, use of humor, and unique characteristics of the poem. The authors poem is told from the viewpoint of a member of the convey, or American government however, the author and speaker are different people in this particular poem. Textual evidence for the speaker of the poem is evident in the parenthetical denomination of the poem This Marble Monument is Erected by the State. In this case, the State is the American government, as the speaker is a member of the State. The State closely monitors an American citizen who serves as a perfect role model for his fellow citizens in the view of the government. In addition, the speaker supports his political background by reporting his sources of how he discovers the citiz... ... as going to war, but also his private life, such as having children. Thus, the title is ironic, and it represents the satirical view of the author who indirectly comments on the total control of the State over its citizenry. Thus, The Unknown Citizen reveals irony. The poem is a bitter satire against forms of government that only want their citizens to conform to the governments norms. The State recognizes the unknown citizen for his abiding by the governments and cautiously examines and records all aspects of his life. In turn, the speaker of the poem, a member of State, asks two rhetorical questions at the end to the audience to determine the relevance of the citizens happiness. The State treats the citizen like an soulfulness when describing his life, but marks him as a number like everyone else therefore, the tone of the poem is sheer irony.