Comparing Benjamin Franklin to Mary Rowlandson Essay

The literature written during this time check reveals the important part the supernatural ( divinity fudge) cont annul during those changing times. The new world was struggling for a new identity element. Were these individuals as well defining the role of immortal to themselves? In this discussion the lives of Mary Rowlandson and gum benjamin Franklin will be comp bed. Each penned a narrative of their life experiences. in that location are marked contrasts and comparisons between these two individuals in relation to their perceptions of God. righteousness was a dynamic part of life in Colonial America. A shift from faith to deism was occurring. The Puritans of this time were escaping the Church of England. Their hope was to extradite to the more primitive ways, to reject the churches hierarchy and ritual. Mary Rowlandson, a puritan in Lancaster, Massachusetts was seized by Indians, along with three of her children in 1676. In her narrative she recounts the story of her su rvival in the wilderness for a period of three months. She is taken away from her home and husband, all was gone (except my life) and I knew not but the next moment what might go too. asa dulcis Franklins The Autobiography is an account of his life and begins with his boyhood in Boston. He subsequent flees to Philadelphia to escape his brothers rule over him. He relates how he was dirty, fatigud, and Want of Rest. In these depictions we can knock against a similarity. Both individuals are removed from their homes and families. Al super acidgh Benjamin Franklins removal was of his own free will. They each suffered as they no longer had the solace of which they were comfort satisfactory. Rowlandsons faith was amazing considering all that she peculiarityured. Through start the narrative she must(prenominal) rely on her faith in God. She includes numerous verses from the Bible to propose explanations for all that she has suffered, Wait on the Lord be of good courage, and he shal l strengthen thine heart wait, I say on the Lord. It is too celebrated that she was able to use her trade to survive, knitting a distich of white cotton stockings for my mistress. This is similarly a parallel to Franklin in that he also used his trade to survive. But one must ask what is moving Rowlandson? Is she writing for posterity or is she simply selfish? Rowlandson has portrayed herself as the ultimate Puritan.Was the glory to God or to herself? She also relates here how many Sabbaths Ihad lost and misspent. It is fascinating to note that toward the end of the narrative she begins to see that her fate is in Gods hands, When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee. At the end she recounts her mature ways, I have seen the extreme vanity of this world. Franklin, states, I had been conscientiously educated, I rarely attended any Public idolize. Some of the doctrine he described as unintelligible, others provisionary. He saw a need to center authority for our lives not in God but in oneself. He also illustrious My conduct may be blamable, but I leave it without attempting farther to excuse it. Franklin is explaining his behavior but not making apologies. It is also noted that he reveals that he had undertaken the bold and arduous Project of arriving at lesson perfection. He had also written a Form of requester for my own private use. In Franklins Thirteen name of Virtues, He lists the qualities he deems Desirable. Originally there were only 12 but a Quaker friend kindly informd me that I was generally thought proud.The last virtue is humility, and his report imitate Jesus and Socrates, reflect deism. Although Franklin does state that he was not able to achieve this virtue, he reveals, I had a good deal with estimation to the Appearance of it. Franklin also had a Memorandum Book, in which he kept track of his virtues. The book was lined in red ink and his faults were marked in black, which marks I could easily wipe out with a wet s ponge. Could this possibly be an analogy to God? Franklin is turn outing his own destiny in relation with his deist beliefs. The ideas he projects are decency, justice and belief that happiness may be found in secular values. Near the end Franklin journals his Scheme and communicates it was not wholly without worship but it did not necessarily reflect any particular phantasmal sect. An illusion of the America to come? A new world which offered religious freedom? This America in its infancy was establishing an identity free from the yield land.Breaking the tie that binds is never easy. In his Autobiography Franklin was seeking to establish a new identity for the new world. This parallels Rowlandson in that she at the end of her captivity has evolved into a new person. Although Rowlandson has placed her fate more in the hands of her God. Franklin suggests that man controls his own destiny but also traces propagation throughout to God. He must deal with his excessive pride, even as Mary Rowlandson has dealt with her own vanity. Hence the supernatural (God) did help to shape our uncouth to what it is today. Our beliefs reflect what our purpose is, what our identity is. Mary Rowlandson and Benjamin Franklin were setting the standards for Americans to get to be.Mary Rowlandson contributes to a young American nation searching for its identity the power of survival without conforming to the behaviors and acts of others. Her faith and trust in God sustained her from becoming like the savagely, as she first perceived, people who took her by force into captivity. At the end of her journey dependence on the embellish and providence of God was displayed. In my opinion this is a great part to any nation seeking its identity. Benjamin Franklin contributions were/are remarkable. He advocated individualized responsibility, intellectual curiosity, honesty, persistence, and prudenceprinciples that have helped people everywhere lift themselves up. He encouraged an entr epreneurial culture which creates opportunity and hope through sedate cooperation. He affirmed that by improving yourself and helping your neighbors you can make a free society succeed. His most glorious invention wasand isthe American dream.