Frankie Nevin

Professor McLoone

Composition 121

19 March 2018

The American Dream as Social Tool

The journey to find the American Dream is a long and most likely not easy road

to travel. Even the destination is as fickle as nice weather in Michigan but the hope that

that dream might come true is the basis of our nation. Authors and artists across all

mediums chase that dream. People from all walks of life look at this nation as a beacon of

light shining the way to achieve that dream. For some, the dream is wealth and power.

For others, the dream is inclusion and acceptance. No matter the definition of the dream,

politicians, writers and artists have used the universal yearning to achieve the American

Dream as a tool to inspire political and social change. While politicians and lobbyists salt

their speeches with direct references to the American Dream, artists take a less direct

approach.

A perfect recent example is the song “Found/Tonight” which was recently

released by Broadway stars Lin-Manuel Miranda and Ben Platt. The song combines

lyrics from the smash hits “Hamilton” and “Dear Evan Hansen” in order to raise money

and support for survivors of the Parkland shooting and their cause, March for Our Lives.

This emotional appeal by both artists taps the revolutionary dreams of our founders to

build a nation and combines them with more modern dreams of young Americans to be

accepted as they are -- gay, straight, trans, or queer. Together, Miranda and Platt hope to
send a strong message in favor of gun control, telling Washington that people who

believe in the American Dream are rising up and growing in numbers.

No matter what they tell you

Tomorrow there’ll be more of us
Telling the story of us tonight…

Jeannette Walls is another example of an artist using the American Dream to

promote a cause. Walls’ memoir, “The Glass Castle” recounts her amazing life story --

from homeless squatter to New York’s 5th Avenue elite. Walls was the second of four

siblings born to an alcoholic father and artist mother who dragged their children from

place to place, eating from garbage cans and stealing food from other kids at school.

Walls eventually escaped West Virginia and achieved her dreams in New York City.

After graduating college, she became a gossip writer and hid her “shameful” past. In a

commentary about the 2017 movie version of “Glass Castle,” Walls writes:

"I hope your movie is going to address some of the issues of poverty," a woman
told me at a recent fundraiser for the homeless, "and that it will provide some
answers."
I don't know if the movie provides answers, any more than my book does. It's just
my family's story. And it's my hope that by making such an effort to get at the
truth, this film will help people to understand all the other families out there like
mine.

Although she denies having a cause, clearly Walls wants her readers to appreciate her rise

from poverty to achieving the American Dream and to sympathize with the families who

didn’t make it. She is using her story to highlight a cause -- poverty and homelessness --

and to inspire readers to address the problem in their own communities.

Looking at more direct political sources who cite the American Dream in

campaign speeches, a perfect example is former senator and vice presidential candidate

John Edwards. In his speech at the Democratic National Convention in 2004, Edwards

said:
 My father, he worked in a mill all his life, and I still remember vividly the men
and women who worked in that mill with him. I can see them. Some of them had
lint in their hair; some of them had grease on their faces. They worked hard, and
they tried to put a little money away so that their kids and their grand-kids could
have a better life.

I have had such incredible opportunities in my life. I was blessed to be the first
person in my family to go to college. I worked my way through, and I had
opportunities beyond my wildest dreams.

And the heart of this campaign -- your campaign, our campaign -- is to make sure
all Americans have exactly the same kind opportunities that I had no matter where
you live, no matter who your family is, no matter what the color of your skin is.

Edwards framed the American Dream in such a way that he could advocate both

for his candidacy with Senator John Kerry and for a long list of agenda items, ranging

from funding for pre-school education to job training. Given his homespun roots,

Edwards had a unique ability to empathize with working class Americans who shared his

same vision of the “dream.” Ironically, Edwards later fell from grace when it was

revealed that he violated the law and paid “hush money” to keep an extramarital affair

secret.

A final example makes brazen use of the term “dreamer” in advocating for

immigration reform. In a brilliant use of the term, supporters of citizenship for many

undocumented immigrants devised the American Dream Act to create a pathway to

citizenship for children brought to the U.S. illegally. Such children were allowed to stay

in the country because of an administrative action called Deferred Action for Childhood

Arrivals, or DACA.

The plight of these children was highlighted recently when supporters of the

American Dream Act invited “dreamers” to the State of the Union. For example, a
California Congresswoman invited Jung Bin Cho to sit with her at the big speech. Cho

came to America from South Korea when she was seven.

“[My parents] came to Virginia — they wanted their kids to have the best
education possible and to achieve the American dream,” Cho said in a phone
interview. “Since America had a great reputation for the best schools in the world,
my parents wanted me to go to a four-year college and become successful in
America.”

Such emotional appeals are typical to Think Progress and other websites and blogs that

are dedicated to achieving social justice. In this case, the American Dream is a perfect fit

for their advocacy in support of immigration reform.

The American Dream is a powerful symbol -- one that influences opinions on

both the left and the right. That’s why politicians, authors, and performers use the

American Dream to pull in their audiences and win their support for social change.

Performers Lin Manuel Miranda and Ben Platt cite the dream in support of gun control.

Author Jeannette Walls tells her personal story to build support to help the poor and

homeless. John Edwards did the same to promote his candidacy for Vice President while

Think Progress used the dream to help immigrants achieve citizenship. The imagery of

working hard, going to school, and lifting oneself up through dedicated effort is so

universally cherished that it has almost become a requirement in advocating for a cause.
 Works Cited

“Found/Tonight Lyrics.” Genius, 19 Mar. 2018, genius.com/Ben-platt-found-tonight-

lyrics.

Gonzalez, Sandra. “Lin-Manuel Miranda, Ben Platt Team up for Charity Tune.” CNN,

Cable News Network, 19 Mar. 2018, www.cnn.com/2018/03/19/entertainment/lin-

manuel-miranda-ben-platt-march-for-our-lives/index.html.

Hill, James, and Beth Loyd. “John Edwards' Blatant Lies and Sly Evasions Over Secret

Affair.” ABC News, ABC News Network, 7 May 2012,

abcnews.go.com/Politics/john-edwards-lies-blatant-sly/story?id=16279411.

Lee, Esther Yu Hsi. “Immigrants to Attend State of the Union so Trump Can See ‘the

Type of Person That He Is Hurting.’” Think Progress, 30 Jan. 2018, Immigrants to

attend State of the Union so Trump can see ‘the type of person that he is hurting.’

“Sen. John Edwards Speech to DNC .” The Washington Post, WP Company, 28 July

2004, 11:10, www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A22230-2004Jul28.html.

Walls, Jeannette. The Glass Castle: a Memoir. Scribner, 2017.

Walls, Jeannnette. “Jeannette Walls Was Warned Her Memoir, 'The Glass Castle,' Might

Be Hollywoodized on Film; What Happened Was Just the Opposite.” Los Angeles

Times, Los Angeles Times, 3 Aug. 2017,

www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-ca-mn-glass-castle-jeannette-walls-

2017803-story.html.