Contextualization of a Father-Son Interrelationship in Franklin’s Autobiography
A reader of Evert Duyckinick’s portrait of Benjamin Franklin may overcome with the tranquility that exudes from the painting. With the first gaze, however, he/she may not be able to discern the source of that tranquility; it exudes from his countenance. Franklin’s slight tilt of an eyebrow seems to portray his wisdom; his relaxed eyelids seem to indicate his benevolent nature; and his evenly-spread, motionless smile sums up his tranquility that comes with distinction – one of the founding fathers of America. Indeed, this visage of Benjamin Franklin is a persona of a wise and benevolent father, and this father imagery relates to, and reinforces the context of The Autobiography; this memoir is contextualized and framed in a “father-son” interrelationship. It is this father-son framing of the context that makes this memoir a paternal inheritance, not only to his biological son, but also to the sons of America. As a father figure, Franklin in The Autobiography tries to inculcate self-improvement, industry, and truthfulness in American youth; however, the fact that the very virtues he advocates stem from his father and the fact that he turns to heavenly father for a higher, moral guidance, implicates that these virtues are best gained by being in tune with paternal providence – both fathers of earth and heaven.
In The Autobiography, contextualization of the father-son relationship is upfront; the memoir is addressed to Franklin’s son. In it, the fact that Franklin extensively genealogizes his extended families and ancestors supports this father-son interrelational framing because this genealogical section of The Autobiography is predominantly male oriented – centers around the patriarchs of his family. In other words, the fact that his arduous, genealogical project centrally revolves around male relationships indicates that it is primarily concerned with the retention and continuation of the family’s patriarchal legacy onto his sons, grandsons, and so forth. Of course, this is understandable – Franklin is a man of patriarchal era. The very first sentence reveals Franklin’s patriarchal disposition, or, more specifically, his genealogical frame of mind: “I have ever had a Pleasure in obtaining any little Anecdotes of my Ancestors” (538). Franklin’s deep interest and utmost respect for his ancestors are evident here. Accordingly, as a patriarch who feels that it is his duty to continue the family legacy, Franklin spells out his purpose of The Autobiography: my “posterity may like to know” (538), particularly, about him and his ways of life. Thus, Franklin’s patriarchal mentality – his interest in compiling and disseminating the work of the genealogy and his biography to his male descendants (sons and grandsons) – frames his writing, The Autobiography, in the context of father-son interrelationship.
Within this father-son interrelational context,Franklin’s narrative consciously recognizes and casts his father as someone who has shaped his character. For instance,Franklin credits his father for implanting in him the importance of self-improvement, the very virtue Franklinlater campaigns with American youth. Specifically,Franklin remembers that it was his father who had instilled in him the importance of diligence in learning – particularly, writing; his father did this by pointing outFranklin’s areas of weakness and exhorting him to overcome them by diligence:
My Father happen’d to find my Papers, and read them…he took occasion to talk to me about the Manner of my Writing, observ’d that tho’I had the Advantage of my Antagonist in correct Spelling and pointing…I fell far short in elegance of Expression, in Method and in Perspicuity, of which he convinc’d me by several Instances. I saw the Justice of his Remarks, and thence grew more attentive to the Manner in Writing, and determin’d to endeavor at Improvement. (546)
The corollary to his father’s early instructions inFranklin’s writing skills later bears palpable fruits: a printing enterprise, the Junto (the debate club), and the Library, to name a few. Franklin recognizes how his Library, in particular, is a materialization of his father’s intent for him: “This Library afforded me the Means of Improvement by constant Study, for which I set apart an Hour or two each Day; and thus repair’d in some Degree the Loss of the Learned Education my Father once intended for me” (589). Thus,Franklin’s impressive, literary successes in various areas are intricately linked to his father’s early-on, paternal inculcations.
Franklin’s father also has ineradicably ingrained in him the importance of industry. The following passage discloses the source ofFranklin’s well-known industriousness, the essence of his persona:
My Father having among his Instructions to me when a Boy, frequently repeated a Proverb of Solomon, ‘Seest thou a Man diligent in his Calling, he shall stand before kings, he shall not stand before mean Men.’ I from thence consider’d Industry as a Means of obtaining Wealth and Distinction, which encourag’d me. (589, emphasis added)
Hence, now we know where Franklin’s industrious ethics stem from: his father (who, in retrospect, has received his inspirations from the biblical sources – from heavenly father). Even as a grown man, Franklin’s industrious undertakings are profoundly influenced and altered by his father. When Franklin was seventeen, his father, although was pleased that Sir William had taken a special notice of his son and even offered business proposals, he advises his son not to take this offer, for he fears that his son is too young and inexperienced to be an entrepreneur. His father, therefore, redirects Franklin’s entrepreneurial ambition into a more slow-paced, solid, and safer realm: “My Father, tho’ he did not approve Sir William’s Proposition, was yet pleas’d that I had been able to obtain so advantageous a Character from a Person of such Note where I had resided, and that I had been so industrious and careful as to equip myself so handsomely in so short a time” (557, emphasis added). Although Franklin must have been disappointed by his father’s objection to this potentially, lucrative business opportunity, it is important to note that he fully heeds to his father’s counsel. What this suggests is that he is in tune with the paternal guidance – he abides to his father’s precepts. He even seems happy that he had made his father proud of him. Franklin’s father, as he sends Franklin back, reiterates the importance of industry to his son: “He…advis’d me to behave respectfully to the People there, endeavor to obtain the general Esteem…telling me, that by steady Industry and a prudent Parsimony, I might save enough by the time I was One and twenty to set me up” (557, emphasis added). To this particular bit of moral advice from his father,Franklin completely devotes himself.
The testimonials from his peers and townsmen aboutFranklin’s industrious spirit prove to his father (and to his son) that Franklin had been obedient and in compliance with the paternal authority: “the Industry of that Franklin,” Dr. Baird testifies, “is superior to anything I ever saw of the kind” (577). Conscious of his son as an audience, Franklin purposefully underscores the benefits he reaped by being in accord with his father’s industriousness, hoping to impart his son of the same ethics: “this Industry visible to our Neighbors began to give us Character and Credit” (577), especially during the times of his first printing business with Meredith. Invariably, such positive reputation brings Franklin a lot of business “Offers” (577), which eventually help elevate him to an economic success. Thus,Franklin’s industrious ideology, the very doctrine that he explicitly endeavors to pass down to his son – and, by extension, to the sons of America – originates from his father.
To Franklin, his father, above all, stressed the importance of truthfulness in dealing with fellowmen. When Franklin was ten-years-old, him and his “Play-fellows…like so many Emmets” (543), stole stones from the construction sites so that they can build a little Wharf of their own. The next morning, however, the workmen noticed the missing stones and brought the case to the fathers of these mischievous culprits. Franklin records the ensuing repercussions of this incident: “we were discovered and complain’d of; several of us were corrected by our Fathers; and tho’ I pleaded the Usefulness of the Work, mine convinc’d me that nothing was useful which was not honest” (543, emphasis added). Later in life, Franklin further elaborates on “honesty among fellowmen” to impress his son of its significance: “[I] grew convinc’d that Truth, Sincerity and Integrity in Dealings between Man and Man, were of the utmost Importance to the Felicity of Life, and I form’d written Resolutions…to practice them ever while I llived” (575, emphasis original). Evidently,Franklin’s apparent, honorable projects of moral perfection and the litany of thirteen virtues spring from an invisible, deeper root underneath: his father. For Franklin, “honesty” is a father-taught virtue that he later expounds and extends into the thirteen precepts of the morally perfect men.
However, as Franklin continues to strive to ennoble himself through industry, self-improvement, and truthfulness, he reaches a certain limit. He reaches a plateau where he needs more than his earthly father’s guidance – a higher source of inspiration – so, he turns heavenward. The following passage shows his reliance on heavenly source: “And conceiving God to be the Fountain of Wisdom, I thought it right and necessary to solicit his Assistance for obtaining it” (595), so he forms the following prayer for his daily practice:
Father of Light and Life, thou Good supreme,
O teach me what is good, teach me thy self!
Save me from Folly, Vanity and Vice,
From every low Pursuit, and fill my Soul
With knowledge, conscious Peace, and Virtue pure,
Sacred, substantial, neverfading Bliss! (595, emphasis added)
Regardless of his fervent prayers and arduous efforts, however, Benjamin Franklin never achieves the moral perfection he esteemed. Nevertheless, he does claim that he became a better man for trying to achieve such moral perfection: “I never arrived at the Perfection I had been so ambitious of obtaining, but fell far short of it, yet I was by the Endeavor made a better and a happier Man than I otherwise should have been” (596).
His other prayer lacks not in his faith and reverence towards heavenly father:
O Powerful Goodness! Bountiful Father! Merciful Guide! Increase in me that Wisdom which discovers my truest Interests; Strengthen my Resolutions to perform what that Wisdom dictates. Accept my kind Offices to thy other Children, as the only Return in my Power for thy continual Favors to me. (595, emphasis added)
In this particular prayer, believing that “God will certainly reward Virtue and punish Vice either here or hereafter” (600), he covenants with God (the father figure of heaven), that he will perform “kind offices” to God’s other “Children” (595). Furthermore, he later postulates that “the most acceptable Service of God is doing Good to Man” (600). Arguably, then, his divine covenant to do “kind Offices” (595) to other men – bettering God’s other children (including his own) – leads him to produce The Autobiography. What is worthy of note, however, is that initially, his divine covenant to “spread” noble virtues were exclusively aimed toward the “young and single Men” (600) of the nation. However, irrespective of his intended/actual audience, it can be deduced, then, that The Autobiography isFranklin’s way of fulfilling his divine covenant, offering a testimonial blueprint to better other mankind – his son and the sons of America.
Franklin’s such noble ambition to do “kind Offices” to other men also coincides with the wishes of his supporting peers, who argue that the publishing of The Autobiography is an expedient, and even pressing gift to the nation. His friend, Abel James, in particular, encourages Franklin to offer his biography to the American youth: “I know of no Character living nor many of them put together, who has so much in his Power as thyself to promote a greater Spirit of Industry” (584). James further expresses his conviction that “Frugality and Temperance with the American Youth…the Work…is of such vast Importance, that [he] know[s] nothing that can equal it” (584). Similarly, his other friend, Benjamin Vaughan, pleads Franklin to offer his biography for the sake of the sons and fathers of America: “your Biography will not merely teach self-education, but the education of a wise man…Show then, Sir, how much is to be done, both to sons and fathers; and invite all wise men to become like yourself” (585, emphasis added). Seemingly legitimized by popular demand, Franklin’s The Autobiography, then, now has a wider avenue and a grander purpose. Its audience is no longer exclusively restricted toFranklin’s posterity. Instead, it becomes a blueprint of a successful, honorable, and ultimately prototypical American who is “fit to be imitated” (538) by all the sons of his countrymen.
In closing part two of The Autobiography, Franklin explicitly alludes that the keys to his blessed life lie in being in union with the paternal forces. The following passage shows how Franklin overtly strives to inculcate his future posterity of the importance of being in tune with the paternal providence: “And it may be well my Posterity should be informed, that to this little Artifice [The Autobiography], with the Blessing of God, their Ancestor ow’d the constant Felicity of his Life down to his 79th year in which this is written” (596). Furthermore, by saying that “What Reverses may attend the Remainder [The Autobiography] is in the hand of providence” (596), Franklin consciously credits even the work of The Autobiography itself to heavenly sources. In other words, he is implying that all his good fortunes and successes in seventy-nine years of his life came via being in harmony with paternal forces (in this case, with God).
If the portrait of Benjamin Franklin by Evert Duyckinick portrays a fatherly image, it is because this is the impression the artist is trying to capture, the wise and benevolent father. Penned by Benjamin Franklin, The Autobiography, literally and metaphorically, is contextualized in a father-son interrelationship. The fact that this memoir is addressed to Franklin’s son, and that his much-advocated virtues of self-improvement, industry, and truthfulness originate from his father, evince the framework of the father-son interrelationship. Moreover, metaphorically, the fact that Franklin reaches heavenward (heavenly father) for a higher, moral perfection also supports this father-son interrelational framing of the text. The accounts of Franklin’s life in The Autobiography testify of the benefits he reaped by heeding to the teachings of his earthly father, as well as the blessings he received by abiding by the precepts of his heavenly father. Perhaps, what is most memorable is that Franklin, by writing The Autobiography, has tried to inculcate his private and public male progeny (his son and the sons of America) the characteristics of an admirable American man – the very virtues of Franklin himself.
Works Cited
Franklin, Benjamin. The Autobiography: The Norton Anthology of American Literature 6.New York &London: Norton & Company, 2003.
Duyckinick, Evert. The Portrait of Benjamin Franklin.
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