Benjamin Franklin's Autobiography as Self-Improvement
In Benjamin Franklin's autobiography, he accomplishes several things. First, he records the circumstances of his life for the benefit of posterity, second-and most importantly-he documents his efforts at self-improvement, and third, he reveals his true character in the pages of the book. This paper will examine each of these three points and will conclude with a summary that synthesizes them into an assessment of Franklin from the pages of his book.
One of the primary purposes of Franklin's autobiography was to record the circumstances of his life for the benefit of posterity. Franklin (10) says as much when he writes, "As constant good fortune has accompanied me even to an advanced period of life, my posterity will perhaps be desirous of learning the means which I employed, and which, thanks to Providence, so well succeeded with me." Here, Franklin's words indicate that he is not merely recording the facts of his life but also conveying to his family how he became and remained so successful in it, in case they might want to enjoy equally good fortune by doing what he did. Given the fact that Franklin has long been very well off, according to this, his motivation for sharing how he became that way does not seem tainted with self-interest but rather suggests that he simply wants to share the secrets that allowed him to prosper so that others might benefit from his knowledge and experience. Since he specifically identifies his family as his audience, any suggestion that he might be writing the book for profit seems ill-placed, and his intentions appear to be above reproach, although profiting from the book would not be a compromise of integrity.
A notable feature of the book is Franklin's documenting of his attempts at self-improvement. The word "improve" is a frequently used term in his autobiography, and it signifies
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