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(2014
midterm assignment) Sample Student Midterm Answers 2014 #2a: Short Essay (Favorite Passage) |
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Josh Cobb
Franklin: Satire, Reason, and Reform
“…for we know, says he, that you highly esteem the kind of
Learning taught in those Colleges, and that the Maintenance of our young Men
while with you, would be very expensive to you. We are convinc’d therefore that
you mean to do us Good by your Proposal, and we thank you heartily.
But you who are wise must know, that different Nations have different
Conceptions of Things, and you will therefore not take it amiss if our Ideas of
this kind of Education happen not to be the same with yours. We have had some
Experience of it: Several of our young People were formerly brought up at the
Colleges of the Northern Provinces; they were instructed in all your Sciences;
but when they came back to us they were bad Runners ignorant of every means of
living in the Woods, unable to bear either Cold or Hunger, knew neither how to
build a Cabin, take a Deer or kill an Enemy, spoke our Language imperfectly,
were therefore neither fit for Hunters Warriors, or Counselors, they were
totally good for nothing.
We are however not the less obliged by your kind Offer though we decline
accepting it; and to show our grateful Sense of it, if the Gentlemen of Virginia
will send us a Dozen of their Sons, we will take great Care of their Education,
instruct them in all we know, and make Men of them.”
The writings of Benjamin Franklin are some of the most
interesting and poignant pieces covered in the course. The tone is playful yet
informative, and Franklin’s use of satire puts the socio-political status quo on
its head. This passage from Remarks on
the Savages of America exemplifies Franklin’s use of satire and challenges
the western system of education and, by proxy, society.
In this piece, Franklin playfully deconstructs the “American” ideal of the
Native American Indian. This work is a stark contrast to the captivity stories
that popularized early colonial folklore which depicted the indigenous
inhabitants as cultureless barbarians. To the contrary, Franklin proposes the
exact opposite. In this passage, he presents the Native American civilization as
the superior by employing the playful language of satire.
Franklin liberates the Native American from
the crude archetype which it was given; his portrayal of the “savages” is, in
fact, quite noble. The passage above is the supposed response from a Native
American tribe when offered the idea of western civilization. The fictitious
tribe politely declines the offer, and eloquently asserts the idea of relative
morality. “But
you who are wise must know, that different Nations have different Conceptions of
Things…” This is idea was largely denied by the colonists who preferred to view
the natives with contempt rather than respect.
Franklin was very much a product of the enlightenment. His use of satire, his
scientific exploits, and charisma are testament to that fact. At the core of his
writing is honesty and intelligence and it these qualities which shine through
in this passage.
