460 Franklin, Benjamin
When Franklin first arrived in Philadelphia he met
and stayed with the Read family. He and Miss Read
courted, but Franklin left on a business trip. Gone
for months he wrote only one letter, telling her he
did not know when he would return. In response
to this, and at the urging of her mother, Miss Read
married someone else. Franklin makes it clear that
Miss Read was right to not wait for him, mention-
ing among other things that he made advances to
another woman while in England. Upon the death
of Miss Read’s husband, Franklin and Miss Read
were married. Franklin says she was cheerful, indus-
trious, and frugal and that they were happy together.
Even though Franklin begins the autobiography
with a letter to his son and it is purportedly writ-
ten to him, Franklin discusses William’s experi-
ences throughout the book, describing his trip with
Franklin researching ancestors, replacing Franklin as
a clerk for the assembly, serving in the war against
Canada, procuring for Braddock’s army, and touring
England with Franklin. This is part of the develop-
ment of the family theme, incorporating his son’s
history into that of the rest of the relations.
Franklin ends the third section of his autobiog-
raphy by describing his tour of London with his son.
Thus the theme of family, focused as it is on his son,
comes full circle. In the 1818 version, published by
his grandson, this is the end of the book. Franklin
offered his autobiography as an example for others
to follow, and his emphasis on family within the
book says that family should be valued.
Suanna H. Davis
SucceSS in The Autobiography of
Benjamin Franklin
On the very first page of his autobiography, Benja-
min Franklin begins to develop the theme of success
when he writes that, since he has gone from being
poor and unknown to being well off and famous,
since he has had a happy life, he can offer himself as
an example of success for others to imitate. Franklin
does not limit his discussion of success to business,
but also develops the theme of success through a
description of his marriage, civic projects, and politi-
cal career.
Franklin was successful in his career. Though
he was originally slated to enter the church and
then worked with his father as a tallow-chandler,
he was eventually apprenticed to his brother to be a
printer. Franklin worked hard and learned the trade
of printer well. He also used his time with the edu-
cated men of Boston to learn to discuss and to write
persuasively. This served him well later in life when
he wanted to make changes and found that he could
make them happen through his writing. Franklin
makes clear that his success as an apprentice was not
limited simply to his learning a trade.
When Franklin left his brother, he ended up in
Philadelphia working for another printer. Franklin
left the printer’s employ and worked in England for
a while as a printer. He then returned to Philadel-
phia as a store clerk. He was happy in the work and
had financial success until the death of the owner, at
which time he went back to work for the printer as
a manager in his printing shop, teaching the trade
to the workers who had been hired. It was clear
that he would soon work himself out of a job, and
Franklin determined once again to set up his own
printing house. Eventually Franklin was able to start
his business through the generosity of two friends.
He was so successful in his business that he was able
to form partnerships in which junior partners took
his printing apparatus and set up shops in other
cities throughout the colonies and then bought out
his majority interest from their earnings. The theme
of success in the work is clearly developed through
Franklin’s success in business.
Franklin also describes his success in marriage.
He courted Miss Read of Philadelphia successfully,
but when he left for England and did not return
soon, she married someone else. Her first marriage
was unhappy, and when her husband died, she mar-
ried Franklin. She was, he writes, a “good and faith-
ful helpmate,” who helped him in the business and
ran the household. They worked to make each other
happy and succeeded in that, too.
Franklin then discusses his successes in civic
projects. He helped create a subscription library that
was so successful it eventually became Philadelphia’s
first public library. Also he helped form the Union
Fire Company, Philadelphia’s first fire company. He
used his persuasive skills as a writer to bring about
a change in the constabulary and helped obtain
public and private funding for a hospital. He made