The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin 461Philadelphia more livable by persuading the govern-
ment to pave and light the streets. In all these civic
projects he was a success, and his success was a boon
to his adopted city as well.
Another success that Franklin mentions is as a
political figure. He became a clerk of the General
Assembly, writing a paper arguing for the creation
of a militia, making him a key figure in its establish-
ment. Then he decided an academy was needed and
encouraged his friends and the public to participate
and set one up. He became so financially successful
that he thought to retire, but the public “laid hold”
of him and he was immersed in the civil govern-
ment. He became an alderman and a burgess and
tried being a justice of the peace. He was chosen to
be a member of the Royal Society on account of his
scientific experiments. By that time, Franklin says,
he no longer had need of governors’ favors because
he was a success on his own.
Franklin wrote The Autobiography of Benjamin
Franklin partially because friends recommended
that he share his story in order to influence youth so
that they might be as successful as he was. Thus the
impetus behind the presentation of the autobiogra-
phy makes clear the theme of success that Franklin
developed throughout the book.
Suanna H. Davis
Work in The Autobiography of
Benjamin Franklin
One of the main themes in The Autobiography of
Benjamin Franklin is work, which can be evidenced
by the fact that Franklin uses the words “work” and
“business” more than 100 times each within the
text.
In introducing people in his narrative, Franklin
focuses often on their occupation. Of his own fam-
ily, Franklin says that a smith’s business was their
source of sustenance. He mentions that his grand-
father and his three younger sons were all dyers
and that the older one was a smith who became a
scrivener. Franklin presents these men to posterity
by the business each was engaged in.
The theme of work is also apparent when Frank-
lin discusses his own evolving work situation in
great detail. While his family initially expected him
to serve in the church, Franklin was soon at home
working with his father. Since Franklin did not wish
to follow in his father’s occupational footsteps, he
was introduced to various trades. Franklin says that
he found his trade through his love for reading and
he was then apprenticed to his brother as a printer.
He became a printer, worked as a store clerk for a
time, returned to printing, and eventually became a
business owner of a printing house and a stationer’s
store.
Franklin develops his theme of work through
discussion of its difficulties and rewards. His appren-
ticeship was unpleasant because James was a harsh
master. It was also pleasant, because Franklin liked
the work, met other readers, and was able to advance
his education. His work in Watt’s printing house
in England brought difficulties, when the com-
posers insisted that he contribute to their alcohol
purchases. He resisted and all his work was undone
whenever he was not looking. When he gave in and
paid, his experience and his clear head—he did not
indulge in drinking—brought him a better position
in the company.
In developing the positive and negative aspects
of work, Franklin describes some of his employers.
Franklin spends a few paragraphs on the charac-
ter of one whom he admired as a good business-
man. Denham was a store owner and Franklin
worked as his clerk. They roomed together and,
until Denham died, he served as Franklin’s adviser.
Franklin enjoyed his work with Denham and it
was financially renumerative, even after Denham’s
death, because Denham included Franklin in his
will. Franklin then gives a negative example of an
employer in his next boss, Keimer. Keimer had hired
several people, promising to teach them the trade
of printer, but Keimer did not know the printing
trade. Eventually he hired Franklin to manage his
printing house. Franklin quickly realized that if he
taught Keimer’s employees how to do their work, he
would be out of a job, but he taught them and fur-
ther straightened out the business. Keimer forced a
public quarrel with Franklin, and Franklin’s work for
him ended after little more than six months.
The positive and negative aspects of work con-
tinue to be detailed through Franklin’s discussions of
partners. At one point, a man Franklin had taught
proposed that they go into business together. This