How The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin drew on The Pilgrim's Progress
A documented line of influence: Benjamin Franklin demonstrably engaged John Bunyan’s work. The commentary below is Gröblé’s, verbatim from each work’s page.
The source
The Pilgrim's Progress
John Bunyan · 1678
EnlightenmentThe influenced
The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin Franklin · 1791
EnlightenmentRelevance
8/10
On The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin’s page
- The first book Franklin bought, and the model behind his prose
- He names Bunyan in the Autobiography and credits him with mixing narration and dialogue — the technique Franklin borrowed for telling his own story
- Read Bunyan first and the Autobiography reads as its secular twin: the pilgrim's road to salvation rebuilt as the road to self-made virtue
On The Pilgrim's Progress’s page
- Bunyan was the first book Franklin ever bought — and the one he learned his craft from
- Franklin singled out Bunyan as "the first that I know of who mix'd narration and dialogue," the very technique he'd later wield in his own life story
- Franklin's allegorical journey, the soul's progress toward grace, becomes a secular journey toward self-improvement — the same shape, pointed at this world