Aranzazu Moreno Blanco FRANKLIN, AS THE EPITOME OF SELF-CREATION: SELF-MADE MAN

Benjamin Franklin is a very important and popular person in the history of America. He was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States and the concept of the self-made man comes to our minds when we think in Benjamin Franklin. Thinking in the theory of the self-made man can come to our minds the cultural idea of the American Dream. A self-made man is someone who comes from difficult circumstances, who is not born in a privilege environment and has to overcome obstacles to achieve his goals but manages to become a great success in life through education and hard work. This man triumphs because of his own effort not because he had luck. Benjamin Franklin is a very good example of this definition. He became a very important person because of his hard work. He wrote about the opportunity for anyone in the class system of America to grow through their own power since a particular position in society. He also wrote about the Indians and how people called them savages. He wanted that everyone were free. We call them, because their manners differ from ours, which we think the perfection of civility; they think the same of theirs. Perhaps, if we could examine the manners of different nations with Impartiality, we should find no People so rude, as to be without any Rules of Politeness; nor any so polite, as not to have some remains of Rudeness. One of the most impressive things that he did was that he learnt everything by himself. He also helped and started a lot of initiatives. He helped a lot of people with his autobiography which was an example of the American Dream. He encouraged people to work hard and get his goals.