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Summary and analysis of the unknown citizen
Real life heroes in literature
Real life heroes in literature
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The Central purpose of The Unknown Citizen, by W.H. Auden and Departmental, by Robert Frost is very similar. Both authors discuss modern society and how individuals’ lives are nothing when looking at the big picture of society. They would like people to understand what society has become. They both use a great deal of satire to convey their central purpose. They satirize the trends in modern life, and how society looks at different people. The authors are upset that society has forced people to conform to it. They are both dealing with the problems of modern society, and use satire to convey this central purpose.
Auden’s poem The Unknown Citizen shows what is wrong with society. Auden uses the example of a “hero” who is immortalized with a statue. The satire in this is that the poem is about a man who was never noticed in society. He was a model citizen because the society did not know that he existed. He was a regular blue-collar man; this could have really been millions of different men. The satirical part is that this particular man is a “hero” and is celebrated by the state with a statue. Auden is satirizing the trends of modern society. He is saying that states honor people who they did not know even existed while they were alive. They found this person’s name in a book after he had died. He was a number to them, yet he is looked upon as a hero. If he was such a hero, they should have honored him when he was alive. This man did nothing; he ...
Clearly, the reoccurring theme of “average” people playing an important role to the greater scheme of American history is shown in the quote above – these “average” people become America’s heroes and heroines, and we choose to remember them as great memories.
...es of individuals can be used to explore a broader social wrong, in this case the injustice of a totalitarian government. Both authors use their protagonists to depict how a dictatorial state can destroy all sense of individuality, Orwell by presenting Winston in his fight against “The Party” and Niccol by depicting Vincent in his battle against society. Both authors also use individuals, who must isolate themselves in order to survive to expose how an unjust authoritative government can manufacture isolation. Orwell and Niccol also present conflicting views on the possibility of individual rebellion in an oppressive society, reflected by the success of Vincent and failure of Winston. In their prophetic dystopian texts both George Orwell and Andrew Niccol use the experiences of their protagonists to explore the broad social wrong of a totalitarian government.
“Good Country People,” is a classic example of the use of irony as a technique for imbuing a story with meaning. Irony works on many different levels through the piece. Examples of this range from O’ Connors use of clearly ironic dialogue to the dramatic irony that unfolds between Manley and Joy-Hulga. However the most obvious examples can be found in O’Connor’s characterization of these, “Good Country People.” The technique of irony is applied prominently to the character’s names and behaviors to present the contradictions between their expectations and their reality. O’Connor uses her characters to explore common notions regarding, “good” and “bad” people. Using their expectations for one another, O’Connor ultimately expose their literal and figurative, “deformities.” Like Joys wooded leg the Irony in, “Good Country People,” embodies that which is hollow and contrived in its characters.
In The Pedestrian and The Lottery, all characters conform to uniform expectations, except for the main protagonist who feels apprehended and is struggling to escape the grasp and questions the rules of society. In The Pedestrian the Bradbury is concerned that if society constantly depends on technology then it will cease to exist. The story itself does not have a structured plot, which is an example of situational irony because the citizens also have a structured purpose in life, which emphasises Bradbury’s message. Houses are where all abiding citizens of society spend all of their time, so it suggests that they are living in a place where the government can cultivate people who idealise the government by providing entertainment on television that claims that ‘…the United States Calvary [are coming]...
Like in the poem, illiteracy leaves a person vulnerable to be taken advantage of. This poor soul unknowingly signed away the rights to his own freedom by leaving his mark.
In his essay, “Resistance to Civil Government,” often times dubbed, “Civil Disobedience,” Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) argues against abiding to one’s State, in protest to the unjust laws within its government. Among many things, Thoreau was an American author, poet, and philosopher. He was a firm believer in the idea of civil disobedience, the act of refusing to obey certain laws of a government that are felt to be unjust. He opposed the laws regarding slavery, and did not support the Mexican-American war, believing it to be a tactic by the Southerners to spread slavery to the Southwest. To show his lack of support for the American government, he refused to pay his taxes. After spending a night in jail for his tax evasion, he became inspired to write “Civil Disobedience.” In this essay, he discusses the importance of detaching one’s self from the State and the power it holds over its people, by refraining from paying taxes and putting money into the government. The idea of allowing one’s self to be arrested in order to withhold one’s own values, rather than blindly following the mandates of the government, has inspired other civil rights activists throughout history such as Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Both these men fought against unjust laws, using non-violent, yet effective, methods of protest. From these three men, we can learn the significance of detaching ourselves from the social norm; and instead, fight for our values in a non-violent way, in order to make a change in our government’s corrupt and unjust laws.
The irony in the poem portrays the theme that looks can be very deceiving. Richard Cory was the perfect man, or so it seemed. No one saw what was going on underneath his perfect disguise. In the beginning of the poem we learn that Richard Cory is perfect and rich. Through his suicide, we learn that even Cory, a perfect man, was not as content as he seemed to others. The common people had a distorted view of Cory. They thought Cory was happy because he was wealthy and came across as perfect when in reality, he had faults and suffered. His appearance was deceiving as he hid his suffering with a mask- his looks, his riches, and the way he kept himself. Since he appeared to be of a higher class and richer than the common people, it would seem as though he would have no problems. Arlington emphasized how Corey had everything with his use of repetitiveness using “And” at the beginning of each line describing Cory’s characteristics. The common people judged Richard Cory based on what they saw, assuming he had the perfect life with everything he had, rather than who he was as a person. In “Cory”, there is no mention of Cory’s life on a personal level. The moral of this is not to judge a person by their looks, but rather who they really are because who they really are can be
Every so often throughout history, great doers and thinkers come along that break the mold and set new standards. People like Caesar, Shakespeare, Napoleon and Jesus have been studied and immortalized in volumes of texts. Then there are others who are not as well known. People like Ralph Waldo Emerson. From his life, writings, associates, beliefs and philosophy, this Concord, Massachusetts man has set his place as a hero in American literature and philosophy (Bloom 13).
In addition, the pamphlet provides an insight between government and society in a state of natural liberty. Paine tells of an abandoned group of individuals living with the absence of government, and further explains the simplicity in living together rather than apart; thus creating a society. As the society continues to grow, a government becomes a “necessary evil” (n.pag)
In two of Auden’s major works he uses the idea of absent-mindedness to express how humans can be self-centered, and tend to have a blind eye towards other peoples’ issues rather than their own. In “Musée des Beaux Arts”, Auden uses a painting by Pieter Brueghel called, Landscape with the Fall of Icarus as a setting for his poem, and uses the characters in the painting as proof that people can be very self-absorbed and unaware. Auden also portrays this same idea in his poem “Funeral Blues”, in which he expresses the feelings of losing a loved one of extreme importance. These feelings help the reader to relate to the magnitude of loss that death can bring, but also shows that people forget that the world around us keeps on turning regardless of their personal situation. In both of Auden’s works he expresses a theme of self-centeredness, and being unaware of others and the world around us. Auden does so by using the characters’ actions in the story as examples as well as the characters themselves.
In Anthem, Amy Rand’s inspirational novella, Equality 7-2521 lives in a future where there is no “I” or “mine.” Members of this Orwellian society work together in groups, which answer to the greater good. When Equality 7-2521 is forced to clean the streets, he rebels against this idea of collectivism by conducting illegal scientific activity. He rediscovers electricity, but when he showcases his invention of the light bulb, he is forced to flee. Joined by his love, Liberty 5-3000, he flees to the wilderness. There, he discovers the true meaning of the word “individual,” shattering the shackles of collectivism he has worn since birth. Equality 7-2521 renames himself Prometheus and his love Gaea, and they dream to create a society based on individual freedom.
There are more than 200 million people in the U.S.A, and every one of them lives an individual life. When people see that their life is starting to be too redundant, they try and make a liberating change that will help others and themselves recognize their identity. In “The Vanishing American” by Charles Beaumont, Mr. Mitchell and his interactions with the “King Richard” lion statue reflect the theme of people’s lives being so redundant that they disappear out of the existence of everyday life, unless they step off of their regular road of life and perform more liberating actions.
In both Antigone and The Republic, elements of death, tyranny, morality, and societal roles are incorporated into each work’s definition of justice. Both works address the notions of justice in a societal form, and an individual form. However, these definitions of justice differ with some elements, they are closely tied with others.
I found that throughout this poem there was much symbolism within it. Identifying that it was written in first person form showed that this poem relates to the author on a personal basis, and that it was probably written to symbolize his life. But when talking about people’s lives, you can conclude that people’s lives are generally and individually very diffe...
The 1950’s beatniks gather around coffeeshops, writing and grumbling about the unfairness of the government and society’s closed mind. Today, youth gather around their laptops and type away, despairing over the unfairness of the government and society’s closed mind. Allen Ginsberg’s poetry embodies those angry youth. His unique choices in diction, symbolism and imagery artfully conveys his criticism against the wrongdoings of Uncle Sam and his subjects. Through his poem America, Ginsberg reaches out to all generations of people and exposes the ethical mistakes that both the government and society as a whole make, and these mistakes are classic in the sense that it is always a mistake that everyone keeps repeating.