In the second installment of Benjamin Franklin's autobiography, he delves much more deeply into the notion of piousness and moral perfection than he ever did in part one. Most of the pursuits in the first installment were business like in nature, but Franklin makes the transition from business to personal rather quickly in the second part. For me, this is an interesting transition, because it implies where Franklin's true passion lies. By this, I mean that it seems that his notions of perfection in business translate into his notions of perfection in life. Therefore, maybe Franklin equates doing well in his business to doing well in life. I cannot help but wondering if this notion of the American dream has both faults and virtues. The faults might be that someone who wished to do well was not able to school him or herself the way Franklin did, and therefore they might never make it. Overall, I think that Franklin's pursuit of perfection can be a tough road to follow, with many a disappointing turn. Franklin himself talks about how difficult a time he had adhering to the virtue of "order" and how discouraging it was to him.
Having said this, I would like to turn my attention to the ideas of religion that Franklin presents in the text. It seems to me that his concepts of religion are somewhat fluid and forgiving, which is a rarity considering the devout nature of Christianity during his time. However, it seems like Franklin is more of a dedicated Christian that what he lets on. From my experiences with the Christian faiths, there is a lot of time and energy focused upon the pursuits of bettering oneself, both spiritually and internally. There is also a resounding emphasis on redemption and imperfection. These tenets remind me so much of Franklin's insistence on keeping a book with his daily errors, and the fact that he strives every week to perfect his shortcomings. The notion of redemption in Christianity is based upon the idea that everyone on Earth is innately flawed to be a sinner, but one can ask God's forgiveness to rectify these imperfections. It seems that while Franklin has made his own sort of religion, his basic principles are mimicking (sometimes exactly) the aspects of Christianity that make that religion so unique. Therefore, I find it a little conflicting that he chooses to assert his independence from the church when he is really conforming to the principles of that institution. Maybe he feels like he is his own God at times, which (if it is at all possible) might be even more vain than writing this autobiography in the manner that he does.
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Marlin you present some interesting ideas about part two of Franklin’s autobiography that also represent recurring themes found throughout his autobiography. It is important, as you have shown, to notice the transition that Franklin is making throughout his autobiography from focusing on his personal and intimate life to more general themes. I see the focus going from more personal to business than business to personal, but sometimes it can be hard to distinguish because he always inserts a personal story or experience to accompany the focus of each part of his autobiography. It is true that he employs the various vices in both his personal and business life, mainly because his life consists so much of conducting business-like affairs. Franklin is practically a part of at least one major committee and holds more than one major position in the society of his time. Therefore, his business life becomes intertwined with his personal life and I think it even becomes hard for him to distinguish between the two. This is evident in his emphasis on women to be educated, especially in accounting. He even quotes a proverb that supports his argument: "He that would thrive, must ask his wife” (80). It parallels his wife’s supporting him in his business with folding and stitching pamphlets. Because he struggles in separating his personal and business life he formulates a strategy to taking control of his life and this comes in the form of his thirteen principles, and is also evident in his desire to manipulate his appearance.
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