"Franklin's Autobiography and the American Dream" Reflection

The article written by Lemay was both interesting and insightful. It gave me ideas that I had previously not thought of as well as ideas that I had not previously thought were very important. However, I do think that Lemay portrayed his ideas in a very effective way. I think that he kind of drew everything out; he made everything much longer than it needed to be. He could have gotten his point across in a much more efficient way that would have been even more influential and inspiring to readers. However, once read through very carefully and deliberately, one sees the true thought process behind Lemay's ideas. While it is boring to read, Lemay certainly did let readers know his thoughts on every subject.

I think it is very interesting that Lemay things of Franklin's "Autobiography" as the "singe most important book" in American literature (Lemay). While, yes, I do agree that the writings of Benjamin Franklin were incredibly intruiging and filled with new ideas, I do not necessarily think it is the single most important book in American Literature. Lemay argued that this book introduced all these new ideas to America that basically shaped it into what America is today. I do think that Franklin influenced a lot of people through the book, but I think that other factors were included. Franklin was not the only Rationalist that was popular at the time; the whole idea of Rationalism was booming. It was not just Franklin himself that changed the course of life, I think it was the mere fact that Rationalism was becoming popular and known. I do definitely agree that Franklin helped spread Rationalism; Franklin was obviously a well known man of high status that was clearly a Rationalist. However, I do think that people were at the point where they were already done with the Puritan or Catholic Church and were ready to move on to the Rationalism period. I do not find it very probable that almost every individual read this work of literature by Franklin and automatically converted.

One thing I did like in Lemay's writing was how he described the American Dream. Sometimes, things get kind of mixed up in translation, and while the American Dream that Franklin thought about is not a necessarily hard concept to grasp, there were a lot of details that went along with it. However, Lemay paraphrased it in a way that was both clear and effective. He wrote, "the American Dream is the hope for a better world, a new world, free of the ills of the old, existing world. And for the individual, it is the hope for aProxy-Connection: keep-alive
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ew beginning for any of the numerous things that this incredible variety of human beings may want to do" (Lemay)

I think that the way Lemay wrote that better helps individuals understand the point Franklin was trying to get across. Although I still think Lemay wrote a little bit too wordy and in kind of a boring fashion, I do have to admit that he definitely did his research and knew his stuff. He was also very good with words, as demonstrated in the quote above. Lemay showed how Franklin's views and ideas still apply today, and he wrote in a way that can allow individuals such as ourselves to understand and apply Franklin's words to our own lives.


WORKS CITED

Lemay, J.A. Leo. "Franklin's Autobiography and the American Dream." InThe Renaissance Man in the Eighteenth Century. Los Angeles: William Andrews Clark Memorial Library, 1978. Quoted as "Franklin's Autobiography and the American Dream." in Bloom, Harold, ed. The American Dream, Bloom's Literary Themes. New York: Chelsea Publishing House, 2009. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=1&iPin=BLTTAD005&SingleRecord=True (accessed October 11, 2010).