Comparisons: Benjamin Franklin

Benjamin Franklin is remembered for being a man of many trades and having invented a number of today’s necessities. He is easily considered one of the greatest, most iconic man in American history. However, our English book taught me one thing about this iconic man that I was very surprised to hear. According to the Before You Read section in our work book, Benjamin Franklin was opposed to American Independence in the beginning. It wasn’t until he advised the British Government and was ignored before he sided with the colonists. In fact, he was quick to move to Philadelphia to participate in the writing of The Declaration of Independence. Who would have thought that the man, who has written some of America’s most important documents, was once opposed to their own freedom? The section from The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin that is in our novel begins when Benjamin is leaving Britain and on his way to Philadelphia. Similar to the Mary Rowlandson story we read awhile back, The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin is documenting a journey that the narrator is taking. This is, however, one of the very few similarities that I found between Franklin’s writings and those of Puritan style. He tends to use a broader vocabulary compared to Rowlandson and even Anne Bradstreet. He is also much more descriptive in his writing style because he gives great detail when describing himself and the places he visits. Franklin even admits, “I have been the more particular in this description of my journey, and shall be so of my first entry into that city, that you may in your mind compare such unlikely beginnings with the figure I have since made there” (Franklin 108). Another example of Benjamin’s style that differs from Puritan’s is the use of complex and compound. Puritan writing tends to be simple, straight to the point sentences, which The Autobiography was not. Another form of similarity between the writing styles of Ben Franklin and the Puritans was the importance of a moral in the story. Puritan’s always made a point to teach a lesson in their writings, and, although it wasn’t necessarily the main focus in Franklin’s piece, he did make the effort to teach a lesson. He states, “Man is sometimes more generous when he has little money than when he has plenty; perhaps to prevent his being thought to have but little”(Franklin 108). I would even consider that statement to be an example of an aphorism.

Puritan writing focused largely on religion. People during this time period lived their lives according to the Bible and what they thought God expected of them. Their lessons and ideas had a lot to do with religion. This was different than what was seen in The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. He spoke very little about church or God, until he reached Philadelphia. He explains how he followed a group into a Quaker church, but intended up falling asleep for most of the service. Franklin wasn’t even a Quaker. I can’t imagine the idea of going to a church that you don’t belong to going over well in the Puritan era.

Franklin, Benjamin. "The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin." Comp. Jeffrey D. Wilhelm, Ph.D. and Douglas Fisher, Ph.D. Glencoe Literature. American Literature ed. Columbus: McGraw-Hill Companies, 2009. 106-108. Print.