Auden quotes

MYE

Central Idea/theme

The individual is rendered invisible by the systems that surround them

Sub theme 1

identity in these systems is constructed entirely from the outside; the inner self is never accessed

BP1 quotes (The Unknown citizen)

“JS/07 M378” “one against whom there was no official complaint”

BP 1 quotes (Musee des Beaux Arts)

"while someone else is eating or opening a window or just walking dully along" "its human position"

Sub theme 2

Auden suggests the erasure of an identity requires no malice — only the unremarkable logic of ordinary participation

BP2 quotes (Musee des Beaux Arts)

"the dogs go on with their doggy life and the torturer's horse / scratches its innocent behind on a tree" "the expensive delicate ship had somewhere to get to and sailed calmly on”

BP 2 quotes (The Unknown Citizen)

“he was popular with his mates and liked a drink" "When there was peace, he was for peace: when there was war, he went"

Sub theme 3

Both poems end with a false verdict — a judgment passed on a life or a death that was never properly witnessed.

BP 3 quotes (the unknown citizen)

"Was he free? Was he happy? The question is absurd" "Had anything been wrong, we should certainly have heard"

BP 3 quotes (musee des beaux arts)

"for him it was not an important failure" "the sun shone / as it had to on the white legs disappearing into the green / water"