Franklin's Autobiography is
considered the quintessentially American autobiography as it describes the author's
self-made "way to wealth". Franklin has also been hailed as the prototypical American
man of the Enlightenment. His initial journey in the book from Boston to Philadelphia is
considered symbolic of the transition from Puritan to Enlightenment values. The
Autobiography revises Puritanism's moral virtues in a secularized
way stressing the importance of industry and temperance in the path towards "moral
perfection".
The first part of the text introduces the
theme of social mobility by showing how Franklin progressed from his brother's small
print shop to his own larger business in Philadelphia, where he becomes the city's most
respected printer. The second part of the Autobiography details
Franklin's project to get to "moral perfection", a project that is not to be read in
religious terms, but in secular ones. Franklin details how he pursues what he has
identified as the 13 most important virtues to succeed in a capitalist society. He does
not seek moral perfection to be saved in the afterlife, but to attains salvation on
earth. This stress on social mobility has been the focus of both praise and criticism.
Famous intellectuals such as Max Weber and D. H. Lawrence were harsh detractors of
Franklin ("the first American dummy" who sacrifices everything to material gains
according to Lawrence). Others have instead praised Franklin for his quest towards
self-improvement.
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