Benjamin Franklin And Benvid Thoreau Analysis

Benjamin franklin and Henry David Thoreau have distinct dissimilar beliefs on freedom and institutions, but after analyzing both authors throughly it seems as though they may have similarities as well. Franklin is a eighteenth century author who contributes money to institutions, in order, to mold humans to live a more pragmatic and regimented life; however, Thoreau is a romantic author who believes that people should search for their inner passions and not live beyond their means in order of finding ones soul. These credible authors ultimately have the concordant motives; however their approach to eliminating errata’s are drastically dissimilar. Although both authors are shaping models for the American identity in different ways, ultimately

The first errata that Benjamin Franklin admits to in his autobiography is quitting his job with his brother. The fact that Franklin mentions this mistake illustrates how the overall theme of self-improvement is extremely important. Another reason why Franklin confesses to this errata is because he desires to show others how not to live their lives. At the same time, he displays humility, because he knows that he is not perfect and wants others to understand that that is not a flaw. The book itself outlines all the ways in which Franklin rises up to become better than the people who were superior to him earlier on in his life. Franklin’s brother thought that he was superior to Franklin, so in order to enact revenge Franklin moves to Philadelphia and becomes success in the printing business in the new world. This is what spurs his desire for self betterment

Thoreau has to utilize material items as a way to evoke a spiritual outcome, meanwhile Franklin is materialistic so that he does not have to have debt to his creditors. Thoreau believes that everyone should live according to their true passions, because by finding ones passions will allow one to have freedom. Another way to acquire freedom is by minimizing ones need, rather than what one wants. Thoreau argues that luxuries not only acquire excess labor, but also oppress humans spiritually because they are infiltrated with worry and constraint. Since people believe that they need excess possessions to be happy, this forces people to work more and lose their inner freedom along the way to social and economic mobility. Thoreau displays this in his metaphor about how farmers are just as much prisoners who are prisoners chained in jail. By minimizing one needs, one can acquire freedom and the benefits of a simplified