rd will help achieve goals, Franklin also states, “If you work hard you will lead a fulfilling life.” A third quote from Franklin's autobiography that states the importance he placed on hard work to achieve success is; “Industry, Lose no time.-Be always employ'd in something useful.-Cut off all unnecessary Actions.” This shows about how Franklin wasn’t the type of person who waits for something to happened but works hard to achieve his goals.Through reading this autobiography I have found three major themes that Franklin may have written this biography to express. Even though this novel was published for everyone to read and enjoy, this first theme of the autobiography as the main theme was intended for Franklin’s son William to whom Franklin has dedicated this autobiography to. The first theme of the book was as a narrative of his life for his family with anecdotes that show why and to some degree how to be a virtuous person. Some of his examples are chastity, through the story of losing a friendship by pusuing his friends wife, and frugality, seen in the stories of his indebtedness, while others were more brightful, like his first major accomplishment, which I think was founding the Philadelphia library. The second part to the theme however is much more explicit. Franklin gives less personal narratives and more explicit guidance, as in listing and explaining his thirteen virtues. It is also clear that this part is meant to be instructive from the direction given him by Benjamin Vaughn as to why the biography should be written. So not only was this a book to read about the life of a genius but also as a guide to help others to become a better person and to shape lives like Vaughn did for Franklin. If we look at the theme in an historical context I can also see another connection. According to the introduction, America was struggling to find its own identity. This theme of virtuosity was probably...
