Frank Underwood Research Paper

The American Dream: Delicately Building a House of Cards How many people must be crushed on the way to the top? That is the million dollar question in the eyes of Francis Underwood on Netflix’s original show “House of Cards.” Throughout history and across the globe, stepping on others to reach a cornerstone of power has been viewed as a necessary tragedy by its countless perpetrators. Frank Underwood is a member of this flock of the power hungry. Underwood is prepared to stop at nothing to attain his dream of becoming the president of the United States of America. Although the idea of ultimate success differs slightly for Frank Underwood, many people interpret the American dream precisely as the founding fathers of the nation once did; “to
ensure a free and equal society in which all individuals have the right and opportunity to pursue their own vision of happiness and success” (Spencer 61). Reaching the dream, however, has become increasingly more complicated and difficult since the nation’s conception. Frank Underwood exemplifies this notion of the American dream by loving his wife and reaching for his perception of happiness and success. Even through its differences to the stereotypical American dream, Underwood’s vision of becoming the leader of the free world is inherently American. “House of Cards” follows Francis Underwood on his journey through the political ranks of the U.S. government. When the series begins, he is a simple majority whip in the House of Congress aspiring to reach greater things; presidential things. Underwood can be regarded as a bloodthirsty shark in a sea of prey. He will not settle for mediocracy or mundane. He wants it all. Underwood desires all the power in the world, and absolutely nothing less. Willing to sacrifice anything for his purpose, Underwood makes his resolve known in the opening moments of the series, “There are two kinds of pain. The sort of pain that makes you strong or useless pain; the sort of pain that’s only suffering. I have no patience for useless things” (House of Cards). This statement of strength and callousness lets any viewer know that Underwood is willing to lose a few battles as long as the culmination is victory of the war. By his side, throughout his mission of ascension, is his wife Claire. Mrs. Underwood is correspondingly tenacious and ferocious to Mr. Underwood. They are woven from the same cloth and consequently, deeply devoted. She is perhaps the sole entity Frank is not readily prepared to part with. “I love that women. I love her more than sharks love blood” (House of Cards). With this, Franks shows that he is not wholly cold-hearted, and he does care about something other than domination. With this love toward his significant other, Frank illustrations a key aspect of the American dream. The American dream is largely perceived as, “a sense of optimism that hard work pays off and belief in individual opportunity” (Jahromi 80).
From this perspective, broad may it be, Frank Underwood can be appreciated as an embodiment of the American dream. Underwood was birthed and reared in an impoverished South Carolina town and lived plainly while coming of age. Despite his meager upbringings, Underwood persevered. He turned almost nothing into a fruitful political career. He did not allow negative circumstances get the better of him and through tireless effort, attained success. “I know what I have to do… we’ll have a lot of nights like this, making plans, very little sleep” (House of Cards). Through planning and unwavering commitment to his goals, Underwood expects his inevitable triumph in his endeavors. That, in essence, is the definition to the American
dream. Through broad interpretation, Frank Underwood is undoubtedly a stunning representation of the American dream, however, upon closer inspection, Underwood could not be further from stereotypical American ideology.
Underwood’s steadfast fortitude is well established, but specifics regarding the measures he takes have yet to be examined. As an American politician, Underwood is no stranger to embellishment of reality and cunning deceit, yet he seldom stops there. Tactics of this nature are common knowledge and common practice in today’s political climate. This is in stark contrast to Thomas Jefferson’s view of democracy. Jefferson believed unequivocally in an informed public, and the methods of Frank Underwood would likely cause him great ire. Jefferson’s disapproval would also be inclusive of Underwood’s aspirations of power. “It was Jefferson who pointed out that there is ‘no safe depository of the ultimate power of the society but the people themselves’, that if citizens are ‘not enlightened enough to exercise their control with a wholesome discretion, the remedy is not to take it from them but to inform their discretion’” (Kakabadse et al. 292). With these words, the contrast between Jefferson’s ideals and Underwood’s techniques is overwhelmingly incontestable, since Underwood not only deceives the American public, but all others barring his
wife.
For Frank Underwood’s intrinsic absence of honesty and compassion toward others, he is far from the perfect symbol of the American dream. To many, America represents freedom, honesty, equality, hard work, opportunity, and much more, while the American dream means beginning with nothing to eventually realize victory. While Underwood is a fantastic illustration of many American values, he lacks numerous critical aspects of the nation’s ideology. His tenuous foundation and eventual ascendancy makes him an almost picture perfect view of the American dream if his less than perfect morals are overlooked.