Benjamin Franklin " Autobiography Part 3"

In part three of the Autobiography, Benjamin Franklin continued to appearances as a tool of manipulation. Franklin manipulated the new member of the Assembly who opposed him to gain the member's favor. Franklin accomplished this by sending the man a letter asking the man for a favor, which was obliged by the man. Franklin was careful to omit this man's name, possibly because he did not want to tarnish his appearance to those who knew him and this man.

In part three, printing continued to be symbolic of success for Franklin; most of his financial and political success was related in some way to literacy and printing. Franklin used his printing as a mode of "communicating instruction" and initiating changes in society. However, when printing relates to other persons in the text, it does not correlate to success. In the case of Mr. Whitefield, printing led to his failure. As Franklin stated, "his writings and printing from time to time gave great advantages to his enemies...I am of the opinion if he had never written any thing...his reputation might in that case have been still growing...as there being nothing in his writing on which to found a censure and give him a lower character...". The difference between Franklin and Mr. Whitefield was their best mode of expression. Mr. Whitefield, on the other hand, was a powerful speaker, but he did not recognized that writings must be more tamed than speeches. Franklin once pointed out that he was not articulate in speaking; Franklin, however, was a very articulate writer, and writing was usually the first from of expression he utilized to gain public favor for the public projects he supported. Franklin showed he can easily manipulate words when he played on the word 'fire-engine' as a powerful gun and not a instrument used in putting out fires. With writing, Franklin was best able to utilize appearance in his favor; in this text and his other published writings, Franklin was careful to manipulate his appearances so that he and what he supports appeared in a favorable light.

This manipulating of appearance also manifests itself in the narrative voice he uses in part three. In this part, the voice of the narrator and the protagonist often were indistinguishable from one another. One instance occurred when Franklin the narrator distinguishes himself from the protagonist by allowing his voice to be heard. Franklin stated "But I am got forward too fast with my story." In this instance, Franklin the narrator wanted to distance himself from the protagonist to bring attention to this part of the text; the tone of the narrator is that of excitement in telling this story. Franklin wanted the readers to pay attention this part, which contained the abuses of power committed by the British officials.