How we cite our quotes: (line)
Quote #1
One against whom there was no official complaint (line 2)
The Unknown Citizen isn’t the only passive person in the poem. The speaker is also quite passive, or maybe passive/aggressive would be more accurate. The speaker never gets excited about anything. He can only delivered compliments in the negative, by saying what the UC didn’t do wrong, rather than what he did right.
Quote #2
Yet he wasn’t a scab or odd in his views,
For his Union reports that he paid his dues, (lines 9-10)
These lines have a nonsensical connection to one another. The speaker deduces that the Unknown Citizen must not have been a scab or had strange opinions simply because he paid the regular membership fees for his Union. The point of a Union is to protect the rights of the factory workers, but, if left to their own devices, they can just suck up people’s money and give back nothing in return.
Quote #3
And that his reactions to advertisements were normal in every way. (line 15)
The Unknown Citizen doesn’t act, he reacts. It’s almost as if he were the subject of a scientific experiment, where things were being placed in front of him to see what he would do. "Hmm, I think I’ll buy a frigidaire." Success!
Quote #4
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. (lines 16-17)
Again, Auden uses all his poetic powers to make the Unknown Citizen sound like a ghost. It never says that he bought the insurance policies – they were merely "taken out in his name." This makes the purchase sound like a passive decision. Throughout the poem, the reader views the Unknown Citizen at a distance, from the perspective of the investigators who are poring over his paper trail.
Quote #5
And had everything necessary to the Modern Man,
A phonograph, a radio, a car and a Frigidaire (lines 20-21)
The Unknown Citizen buys whatever appliances and gizmos are considered "necessary" at the time, even if they aren’t really essential. What would this list include today? A new computer, iPod, and a flat screen TV?
Quote #6
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. (lines 22-24)
These lines are the very definition of passivity. He has no will of his own.
Quote #7
Had anything been wrong, we should certainly have heard (line 29)
The speaker is offended by the possibility that the Unknown Citizen could have thoughts and emotions of which the State is unaware. But considering how passive he is, you wouldn’t think that the UC would be bold enough to voice his deepest thoughts.