Benjamin Franklin's Autobiography: Exhaustive Study Notes on Narrative, Character, and Enlightenment Pragmatism
Introduction to Benjamin Franklin and Autobiography as Literature
Overview of Benjamin Franklin (1705–1790):
Settled craft and lifelong profession: Printer.
Additional major roles: Inventor, diplomat, politician, public servant, author.
Technological and practical inventions:
The lightning rod.
A new design for a wood-burning stove (the Franklin stove).
Bifocals: Designed by taking two pairs of glasses (one for distance vision and one for near vision/reading), cutting the lenses in half, and gluing them together. This model remained standard for centuries prior to the development of modern progressive lenses.
Civic contributions:
Conceived and founded the first lending library in the United States and the world.
Conceived and founded the first volunteer fire department in the United States and the world.
Visual depictions and public image:
Portrayed as a vigorous, energetic young man and accomplished athlete wearing a fire helmet.
Depicted as a jovial elder statesman.
Featured as the face on the United States 100-dollar bill.
Autobiography as a Literary Genre:
Focuses not merely on factual narrative ("what is said"), but on literary style and formal technique ("how it is said"), analyzing the mechanisms by which a writer constructs meaning and psychological effect.
Inevitably relies on the creative imagination rather than simply reflecting a pre-existing self.
Functions as a form of public self-fashioning, creating a coherent narrative structured around clear cause-and-effect sequences.
Operates through selective memory: choosing specific events to incorporate into a unified life story while excluding others.
Draws upon pre-existing cultural narrative forms present within society.
Cultural Narrative Frameworks and the Myth of the "First American"
Major Cultural Narrative Archetypes:
Overcoming External Adversity: A framework focused on triumphing against external hardships and obstacles.
Moral and Intellectual Growth: A framework focused on internal development, wherein an individual commits early errors, recognizes misguided thinking or actions, learns from those mistakes, and achieves personal maturity.
Cultural Positioning of Benjamin Franklin:
High school textbook The American Pageant (17th edition) characterizes Franklin as "the most representative American of his era," asserting that he typified the American spirit and established a model for future generations.
Historian Professor Brands titled his biography The First American, arguing that Franklin was the first public figure to embody and represent traits that came to define the characteristic American spirit.
The Archetype of the Self-Made Man:
Motivation for writing the autobiography: "having emerged from the poverty and obscurity in which I was born to a state of affluence and some degree of reputation in the world…"
Focuses on the "conducing means"—the practical tactics, habits, and methods used to rise from poverty to wealth and public influence.
Intended as a practical guide for posterity to imitate.
Emphasizes personal effort and self-reliance over divine intervention, contrasting with earlier Puritan works (such as Anne Bradstreet's deathbed letter to her children, which focused on the direct interventions of God).
Old World Stasis vs. New World Mobility:
English Ancestral History (The Franklin Family in England):
Lived in the same village in Northamptonshire, England, for at least 300 years (documented via parish church records and gravestones).
Resided on a small freehold farm of approximately 30 acres.
In every generation, the eldest son was trained as a blacksmith to maintain the farm and serve neighboring farms.
Exhibited zero geographic or occupational mobility across centuries.
American Mobility Embodied by Franklin:
Social Mobility: Transformed from a lower working-class upbringing into an affluent, internationally famous public figure.
Geographic Mobility: Relocated fluidly between Boston, Philadelphia, London, and France.
Occupational Mobility: Explored multiple trades with his father (ministry, candle making/chandler, soap making, blacksmithing) before choosing printing.
Personal and Psychological Mobility: Engaged in deliberate self-improvement, skipped school grades, and systematically remade his personality traits and habits.