Graduation Term

Spring 2026

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Department of English

Committee Chair

Rebecca Saunders

Committee Member

Jeremy Johnston

Abstract

This thesis draws from Langston Hughes’s poem “Let America Be America Again” to analyze four American novels that demonstrate the United States’s unfulfilled promises for lower-class individuals and minorities. The four novels examined in this thesis include: The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton, The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead, There There by Tommy Orange, and How the García Girls Lost Their Accents by Julia Alvarez. Utilizing theoretical frameworks such as social reproduction theory, intersectionality, and Burden-Shelly’s theorizations on racist-capitalist oppression, this thesis argues that the policies and systems that the U.S. is founded on are designed to primarily benefit economically secure, white cisgendered men. By examining novels that capture the voices of those who are harmed by the U.S. economic system, including the lower class, Black Americans, Native Americans, and immigrants, I argue that, while the U.S. appears to offer social equality to all Americans through its foundational documents, laws, and policies, ultimately the U.S. is yet to fulfill these promises for all people.

Access Type

Thesis-Open Access

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