Analysis Of Poor Richard's Almanac

1255 Words3 Pages

Born and raised by a Puritan soap maker who had seventeen children, the tenth child named Benjamin Franklin would become one of the most famous scientists, writers, inventors and hold a very important role in the American Revolution. He was the youngest son therefor he had no inheritance, however, he had the willpower to succeed and lived out the tale of rags to riches. Franklin started working at the age of 12 as an apprentice for his brother, but discontent with his job as an apprentice he ran away at the age of 17. He eventually made it to Philadelphia with nothing but two coins to rub together, one in which he tipped to the man who took him to Philadelphia on a boat. He started working there and was offered money to go to London to get …show more content…

It became apparent that the writers who produced a yearly almanac that intrigued readers with information and entertainment had a high chance of making a fortune. Franklin decided to jump on that opportunity creating “Poor Richard’s Almanac” in 1733. The character Poor Richard Saunders is a humorous character yet one that is relatable to the people who are reading Poor Richard’s Almanac. He describes himself as a poor man needing to take care of his wife who complains a lot and seems to be annoyed with the fact that Richard spends his time “gazing at the stars” so to speak. She has threatened to burn all of his books if he doesn’t use them to make money for his family, so he complies with her wishes and creates and almanac. Towards the end of the excerpt he writes “not only as purchasing an useful Utensil, but as performing and Act of Charity, to his poor Friend and Servant.” In a way this could be somewhat comedic in the sense that he along with other men have to listen to their wives complain about getting a job or working harder and the men are begging one man to another to empathize with him in the situation. The name Poor Richard can also be taken two ways, one way as in “poor Richard” with a sympathetic tone regarding his situation or in a literal sense that Richard is …show more content…

It’s difficult to only choose one when many apply to various life situations so I will cover just a few that I particularly like. The one that I found in this excerpt was “He that lies down with Dogs, shall rise up with fleas.” This saying can be taken in a literal and metaphorical sense which makes it humorous yet a lesson to be learned. I interpret it as being careful of who you decide to hangout and associate with, if you choose to hang around the wrong crowd don’t be surprised when something goes wrong. A few others that I’ve heard used over the years are “a penny saved is a penny earned,” “. . . in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes,” and “ early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.” The first one “a penny saved is a penny earned” means that it is better and important to keep the money and save it versus spending it, it’s a pretty straight-forward aphorism. The next one “. . . in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes,” this saying is somewhat funny to me because it is such a true statement. Nothing is guaranteed in life because there is so much uncertainty but the one thing we can be certain of is dying and paying taxes. Last but not least, “early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise,” this was

Open Document