Benjamin Franklin Documentary Analysis

The Life of Benjamin Franklin is a documentary in which historians and scholars examine Benjamin Franklin’s life. The documentary explains in detail about his innovations, creations, and all of his achievements in both science and politics. Many people often praise him for his extraordinary mind and his desire to solve any problem that he comes across, the first half of the documentary when they explain his life as a child and young adult is interesting and explains many of his characteristics. Most people associate the image of Benjamin Franklin as a poised, elderly man, but the documentary unveils another image of him that is often not discussed or seen. Born in Boston, Massachusetts in 1706, during the height of the Salem Witch Trials.
At this time, civilians believed in witches, witchcraft, and evil. They had a belief where man could control these evils. Although it may be a magnified observation, in order for a period of Enlightenment to occur there must be a period of ignorance in order to grow and be educated. Benjamin Franklin is the fifteenth child out of seventeen children and the youngest son. At a young age his father instilled the idea of people not being able to control their destiny, but as we examine the life of Benjamin Franklin, it is not an idea he believed in. Benjamin Franklin was educated to become a minister, during the time period ministers were considered to be leaders of society.
As a child, he was fascinated by the teachings of Cotton Mathers. Cotton Mathers took stories and disassembled them into moral lessons, influenced by puritanism. One of the ideas Mathers emphasized was to not to enter or leave a room without doing some good for your fellow man. In Benjamin Franklin’s old age, he recalls a memory of an interaction between him and Cotton Mathers. They were walking and Cotton Mather’s says to Benjamin Franklin, “Stoop!” Cotton Mathers then pushes Benjamin Franklin’s head against a stoop and says, “Your young and have the world before you and you will avoid many high bumps if you do not carry your head high.” Although Benjamin Franklin appears to be vain in his autobiography, he remembers and values his humble
beginnings. In the documentary they described Benjamin Franklin’s physical appearance as a tall young man with long hair and broad shoulders. They discuss how he left both his father’s and brother’s trade and escapes to London at eighteen. During this period continues reading and learning how to write by disassembling books and rewriting them as his own. Like most eighteen year olds, Benjamin Franklin was alert, naïve, quick to learn, and open minded. He absorbed the culture, learned about the culture, and was a social being. The Enlightenment period began in England and this leads to new ideas and a different way of thinking.
Enlightenment put an emphasis on rational thoughts, planning, and an emphasis on the present. There was a lack of self-interest and became about the improvement of people and culture. The documentary explains Enlightenment as, “We’re not born to be what we are,” a modern insight that leads to change. At twenty years old, Benjamin Franklin moves back to Philadelphia and wants to put his life in order. He combines lessons from his childhood and ideas from the Enlightenment as a motivator to help others. Benjamin Franklin devoted his attention to problems and wanted to make life comfortable for ordinary human beings. Although he is one of the great thinkers, he understood the general public and knew how to interact with him. Often, when people become successful they become selfish and even lose their motivation to do well in their work, because they feel a sense of security in their position. However, Benjamin Franklin continued to have this childlike curiosity, continuing to ask questions, and had the same want of exploration in his old age he had as a young man. He did not rest, but instead searched for another problem he could
solve. He is recognized for countless inventions, one of the Founding Fathers of the United States, but his endless drive to do well for others and the interest he had for the world around him is extraordinary.