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(2016
midterm assignment) Sample Student Midterm Answers 2016 (index to #2 samples) #2a: Short Essay (Favorite Passage) |
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Thomas Britt
It Is Better To Make Them All Into Cider
Franklin, Remarks concerning the Savages of America
Benjamin Franklin has solidified his seat as a satirist in the annals of time by
pointing out the glaringly obvious double standards many Europeans used when
encountering the Native Americans. He was certainly a maverick in his ways of
thinking and was never afraid to point out inequality where he saw it. What
really made him unique, though, was his ability to call attention to things that
seem so palpable, but not until they have been noticed for the first time. In
this selection, Franklin points out that it is ridiculous hypocrisy for
Christians to tell Native Americans that their origin stories are fables while
they, themselves, orate about talking snakes and cursed apples.
It would seem apparent that Franklin means to show not that both sides of
this religious table are wrong in their beliefs, but rather that it is the
Christians who are not acting Christ-like in their intolerance and inability to
respect another culture’s system of beliefs. The Christians relate the story of
Adam, Eve, the Serpent, and the Apple, and the Native Americans patiently
listen, thank the Swedish Minister, and tell him that what he had to say was
“all very good.” The Native Americans do not discount the Swede’s story simply
because it is not what they have been previously indoctrinated in.
On the other hand, when the roles are reversed and it is the Native
American’s chance to tell their own creation story, “the good missionary,
disgusted with this idle tale,” disregards what he has heard as “fable, fiction,
and falsehood.” He does not even have the courtesy to pretend he enjoyed the
story nor the enlightened mindset to appreciate it for what it is. Ironically,
the Christian is not turning the other cheek, loving his neighbor, or any of the
other aphorisms his religion is accustomed to.
In the end, Franklin delivers the killing blow by having the Native
American insult the Europeans education and manners. Here are these “savages”
who behave politely and courteously while someone different than them explains
teachings new to them. The so-called civilized man, on the other hand, is not
civilized enough to keep his composure and maintain an open mind in order to
raise diplomacy between himself and the Native Americans. Thereby, Franklin
demonstrates the asinine double standard of the European Christian: expecting
validation in every word they utter while remaining cloistered in a staunch
refusal to accept anything different from themselves.
