Legacies by Way of Manipulation in ‘Epitaph on a Tyrant’ and ‘The Unknown Citizen’ Anonymous 12th Grade

W.H. Auden was a visionary writer, portraying myriad themes ranging from the political, social, ethical, moral and individual perspectives of his time and prior to the Modernist period. His work often encapsulates the existential fears of a population, due to a dictator’s enforced ideologies, leading to manipulation of the masses. Both texts ‘Epitaph on a Tyrant’ and ‘The Unknown Citizen’ explore the notions of manipulation and legacy, conveying the consequences of manipulation, thereby creating a legacy. Though both poems contextual evidence varies, the core thematic concerns correlate with the time of publication and relate current context.

The texts ‘Epitaph on a Tyrant’ and ‘The Unknown Citizen’, demonstrate the notion of manipulation, describing the consequences and repercussions. The poem ‘Epitaph on a Tyrant’, describes the consequences of manipulation, as a ‘tyrant’ enforces his ideologies on a population, composing their perceived utopian society of a master race. The leader manipulates the population by utilizing human foolishness to enforce their ideology and aid their obsession for power, evident in simile, “He knew human folly like the back of his hand”. Auden depicts through this simile and the line “When he...