Examining the American Dream in “Passport to Freedom”

Dear readers,

For most of us, renewing our passports is just a task on our to-do list. We don’t give it much thought other than to be annoyed by its inconvenience and only feel a sense of panic and urgency if an international trip approaches. But for Dr. Nizam Missaghi, renewing his United States passport wasn’t just a necessary task: it was an undertaking that could either save his life or put it at unbelievable risk.

In his memoir Passport to Freedom: From Tehran to Triumph, Nizam explains his birth in the United States, then being brought to post-revolutionary Iran as an infant, where he grew up under persecution for belonging to a religious minority. Through it all, his U.S. passport was his lifeline to a free world — a lifeline that only grew more necessary in adolescence, as the authoritarianist regime focused in on his Baha’i community. But attempting to flee meant stepping out into view of the Islamic Republic’s surveillance, a decision Nizam knew could spell his own demise. But in his view, the chance at freedom was worth it.

Most Americans are lucky enough not to have come to the country under such duress. For most of us, we’re born here, or choose to immigrate under much calmer circumstances. But for those who can relate to Nizam’s trying journey, the United States serves as a similar destination of almost mythic proportions: a “land of opportunity” for safety, education and the chance to build a new life. Nizam once clung to a vision of the famed American Dream as a source of hope — and his memoir serves not just to chronicle of his escape from Iran, but also to celebrate his success in achieving that dream. It’s hard for me to think of a recent read with more powerful ending.

Happy Reading,