Where Dreams Come From

Ethan Kodrich
English 3
Mrs. Briars
3 November 2019
Where Dreams Come From
Walt Disney; one of the most famous names that embody the American dream, overcoming every adversity, and their ability to dream big. And like Walt, dreams are the building blocks of our society, today’s ideas are tomorrow’s future. In Larson’s novel The Devil in the White City and Rick Warren’s book The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here For? in order for someone to have a large impact, they must start with a big dream.
To dream big your Ideas need to start somewhere and they need to have influence or a defining moment. To dream big, your Ideas need to start somewhere and they need to have influence or a defining moment. In Larson’s novel, one of the main characters, Daniel Burnham, is described as a “Lackluster student” as a result of not getting above eighty-one percent on anything. But while looking for work one day “He had found his calling, he wrote in 1968, and told his parents he wanted to become the “greatest architect in the city or country” (Larson 19). Burnham’s calling to architecture was the first step in creating the necessary chain of events that lead him to create the White City for the world’s fair. If he had not become an architect, he would not have met his lifelong partner, John Root, thus their title as Chicago and the United States’ best architects would seize to exist. Another example is found when Burnham speaks at The Predators Ball, the lead architect“ described his vision of the fair and Chicago’s resolve to make the vision real“; he goes on to elaborate about how the World’s Fair will go down in history as one of the few times ”all true Americans served, and now [he] [asks] [chicagoians] to serve again! [...] This time the room erupted.” “The men left the banquet ball that night united like soldiers in a campaign” (Larson 98,99). The source of Chicago’s great pride towards The World’s fair was Burnham’s speech. Through his speech, he was able to connect to the audience using his motivation and drive that inspired his dreams for the fair as a persuasive, unifying, and outstanding project that Chicago needed at that time. On day 30 of Warren’s novel, he talks about another word for your interests and ambitions; “passion. There are certain subjects [someone] [can] feel passionate about and others you couldn’t care less about”, then those are the moments and the influences that impact our abilities to dream big (Warren). Warren believes that through finding a passion for something or feeling passionate about a subject, you will be able to dream big.
Dreaming big gives people a purpose in life and motivation to pursue their purpose. In the second part of Larson’s novel, the architects for the fair held a meeting to present their ideas. As the meeting continued the men were losing motivation, but just then “St. Gaudens took [Burnham’s] hands in his own and said, “I never expected to see such a moment” then asked if Burnham had realized“that this [had] been the greatest meeting of artists since the 15th century?” (Larson 115). St. Gaudens had been invited to assess the architect’s designs for the fair. And rather than just grading and evaluating each one with comments and notes, he absorbs all of it and is inspired by each architect’s design each one more marvelous than the last. And it was that defining moment; the greatest meeting of artists since the 15th century, that ignited the sculptor’s love and pride for the fair. Throughout the first part of the book, the audience is told about a young architect trying to push his invention of the Ferris wheel “This time in addition to drawings and specification he included a list of investors, the names of the prominent men on his board, and proof that he had raised enough money to finance the project to completion” ”On December 16, 1892,” the committee finally approve and gain him a plot in the midway (Larson 185). George Ferris believed that his purpose was to invent and build as an architect from a young age. After designing the Ferris Wheel he sends the blueprints to Chicago for the world’s fair but gets denied. Yet, he did not just stop believing in his purpose and lose all motivation. Instead, he finds investors, creates a board with respectable officials and raises funds to make sure the project will be paid for from start to end. One more, Ferris sends in the original blueprints plus the additional credentials and gets accepted. One chapter in Rick Warrens’ novel defines the word heart as“ the bundle of desires, hopes, interests, ambitions, dreams, and affections [people] have” causing inspiration and shaping for one’s purpose in life and heart to be recognized (Warren). Warren is using a redefinition of the word heart as a camber for feelings, dreams, and ambitions. He is stating that a person can’t just fathom a concept or an idea, they must be inspired or provoked.
Throughout Larson and Warren’s novels, the concept of how one can dreaming big is achieved when someone is inspired by a defining or influential moment, then creating a purpose in life and motivation to pursue that purpose. This can be seen when George Ferris finally gets his invention, the Ferris Wheel, into the fair or when young Daniel Burnham becomes obsessed with becoming the greatest architect in the country. Dreaming big is the key to fulfilling your purpose, the only thing holding you back is you. “All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them.”-Walt Disney



Work Cited
Warren, Rick. The Purpose-Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here for? Zondervan, 2016, Google Books, books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=m3XJ3x0cFsYC&oi=fnd&pg=PT9&dq=dreams+give+us+a+purpose+in+life&ots=J7COeC0uCB&sig=TGLCUtrJgAaobGNfSFffCvzj1SA#v=onepage&q=dreams&f=false.
Larson, Erik. The Devil in the White City Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America. Penguin Random House, 2003.