Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Semester of Degree Completion

1991

Thesis Director

Parley Ann Boswell

Abstract

Scholarly readers seem to have avoided a comparison of the writings of Jonathan Edwards (1703-58) and Benjamin Franklin (1706-90). Although they were born three years apart, they are rarely represented in anthologies as having been contemporaries, primarily because Edwards was a Puritan preacher and Franklin was an "Enlightenment" politician and inventor. However, when we disregard these critical constraints and assumptions, we find that as writers and thinkers, they have a great deal in common.

In my thesis, I have examined the autobiographies of these contemporary works: Edwards' "Personal Narrative" (c. 1739-42) and Franklin's Autobiography (1771-88). The theoretical approaches of Jane P. Tompkins, Wolfgang Iser, and others have provided me the critical background by which to read these texts. In considering the reader's roles of choosing an "authoritative" voice, interpreting, and responding, we find that the reader is vital to life-writings. Also, we learn that in examining the text, the reader enters into and participates in the autobiographers' lives. An examination of the two narratives reveals three bases for comparison. The first is the way they remember themselves as young men. Following a convention established by earlier Puritan autobiography, Edwards and Franklin write about their childhoods in order to understand that their lives are journeys of trial and error. Both discover that although their adult lives are valuable, their early experiences contributed significantly to their lifelong education: Edwards was educated by God, and Franklin was educated by writing.

A second comparison between Edwards and Franklin is their method of identification of errors and failures in their lives. When we read their life-writings, we may expect them to follow the tradition in autobiography of stressing factual details and success. Instead, both men are "silent" about the historical facts of their lives, providing minimal detail of the instances that made them well-known. From the events that are included, Edwards and Franklin articulate their lives in relation to their errors and failures. As a result, they judge themselves for their readers in very human terms: imperfect, humble, and frail.

The final examination made between Edwards and Franklin is their struggles with language. Even though they were known for their communicative abilities, Edwards as a preacher and Franklin as a writer, both men demonstrate an inability to choose the precise words to describe their feelings in their autobiographies. In their very search for words, however, they often underestimate their capacity to articulate: what they can express to us is their suspicions of the very institutions they helped establish. Their difficulty of expression allows us to understand their "worlds" because we recognize their fears and struggles. In addition, we share the struggle of the perpetual journeys of Jonathan Edwards and Benjamin Franklin.

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