unity” (Auden 5). The idea that a perfect modern man is not supposed to have any complaints and to serve the community suggests that the state want its citizen to work for the benefit of the state, not the individual. The fact that nothing should be questioned or complain about the ideal citizen shows obedience to the state. Similarly, in “Harrison Bergeron” the “perfect” society is one where all citizens are equal not only under the law but also equal in all aspects of living as well. In an attempt to make people equal, handicaps are distributed among people. These handicaps range from little handicap radios in more intellectual people’s head to bags of leads to slow the faster down to masks for the beautiful people. Everyone is supposed to be average except for those who works for the Handicap General that regulates the lives of the citizens. During the time period that “The Unknown Citizen” was written, in the late 1930’s, Americans were issued Social Security cards, each with a personalized numbers. The government only knows its citizens by these numbers. From then on, the people begin to expect and accept a larger government role in their lives. It is easy to see that there is no possible way to make everyone equal in everyday life. When Auden and Vonnegut describe these impossible ways to create equality in a sarcastic manner, they are actually mocking the United States government that depersonalizes its citizens.Of course it is easy to recognize that the average society that our democracy strives to get closer to is one that is closely linked to a dictatorship rather than our political system of a democracy. In “The Unknown Citizen” the state seems to dictate everything about the citizens’ lives. The “Bureau of Statistics” and the “Producers Research” are two institutions described in the poem that keeps tracks of all aspect...
