The narrator of the poem is a collective voice representing the marginalized populations of the United States. Though starting with a personal tone of disappointment, the speaker assumes the identities of various disenfranchised groups. These include poor white people pushed apart, Black people bearing the scars of slavery, Indigenous Americans driven from their land, and hopeful immigrants. The speaker also adopts the roles of farmers bound to the soil and young workers trapped in an endless chain of labor. Expressing deep frustration with the reality of the American economic system, the speaker nevertheless maintains a fierce, patriotic hope that the true American dream can still materialize.

An overarching, antagonistic force representing those who exploit others for profit, power, and gain. The speaker describes them early on as kings who connive and tyrants who scheme. Later, they take the form of the mighty who crush the weak, those who enslave workers to machines, and people who live like leeches on the population. They are the architects of the greed-driven economic system that keeps the American dream out of reach for the working class and marginalized groups. The poem frames them as the primary obstacle to true freedom and equality.

A brief but distinct voice in the poem that challenges the speaker from the dark. Appearing in the text as italicized questions, this entity asks who the speaker is and questions why they draw a veil across the stars. Representing the privileged classes or those comfortable with the existing social order, this voice resents the speaker's complaints. The voice views the speaker's vocal protest as an unwelcome intrusion on the idealized, romanticized version of America.