Analysis of Benjamin Franklin's The Way to Wealth
Benjamin Franklin was born into rather mediocre circumstances, and his rise to wealth and fame constitutes a true American "rags to riches" storyline. And due to this clichéd American fascination with the concept of a true "self made man", his readers, many of them of meager means and poorer backgrounds, were able to relate to his writings on a personal level. In his original Poor Richards Almanac, published in 1732, he provides insightful advice and morally sound lessons intended to educate and entertain the audience for which it was intended. This audience was comprised of poor farmers, struggling craftsman, and frankly anyone wishing to make any means of a living or to get rich through their own business ventures. In his original preface to the main text of Poor Richards Almanac, entitled The Way to …show more content…
Franklin says "But poverty often deprives a man of all spirit and virtue: tis' hard for an empty bag to stand upright"(240). Franklin is indeed saying that it is difficult for a person who has nothing, no material possessions or monetary wealth, to be an upstanding and law abiding benefit to society. I believe he uses this metaphor as a means to explain why criminals engage in unlawful and oftentimes criminal activities like thievery and other such crimes. He is saying that because they have nothing, it is difficult for them to follow laws as laid out by individuals who have a significant amount of material wealth, because there own poverty prevents them from making any sort of legal living. This statement is a very relatable one, particularly to any of his poorer readers who may have even considered turning to a life of crime themselves. Everyone has considered the idea of stealing or committing a crime at lease one time in their lives, and because of this, Franklin's statement is so relatable to his many
Benjamin Franklin was born into rather mediocre circumstances, and his rise to wealth and fame constitutes a true American "rags to riches" storyline. And due to this clichéd American fascination with the concept of a true "self made man", his readers, many of them of meager means and poorer backgrounds, were able to relate to his writings on a personal level. In his original Poor Richards Almanac, published in 1732, he provides insightful advice and morally sound lessons intended to educate and entertain the audience for which it was intended. This audience was comprised of poor farmers, struggling craftsman, and frankly anyone wishing to make any means of a living or to get rich through their own business ventures. In his original preface to the main text of Poor Richards Almanac, entitled The Way to …show more content…
Franklin says "But poverty often deprives a man of all spirit and virtue: tis' hard for an empty bag to stand upright"(240). Franklin is indeed saying that it is difficult for a person who has nothing, no material possessions or monetary wealth, to be an upstanding and law abiding benefit to society. I believe he uses this metaphor as a means to explain why criminals engage in unlawful and oftentimes criminal activities like thievery and other such crimes. He is saying that because they have nothing, it is difficult for them to follow laws as laid out by individuals who have a significant amount of material wealth, because there own poverty prevents them from making any sort of legal living. This statement is a very relatable one, particularly to any of his poorer readers who may have even considered turning to a life of crime themselves. Everyone has considered the idea of stealing or committing a crime at lease one time in their lives, and because of this, Franklin's statement is so relatable to his many