Two of the most influentinal autobiographies in history are Confessions and The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. Both of these show through example ways that the author believes that a person should go about living his or her own life. Both offer much advice that would be useful to any person looking for little ways to improve their lives. They also each give a good recounting of the important lives of the respective authors. However, there is a significant difference between the styles of the two that I did not notice until the most recent seminar on Confessions. Even though it is obvious that Augustine would have a more religious perspective, I did not realize how far this extended until Dr. Gamble talked about the book. One of the most pervasie themes of Franklin's book was his tone of pride, even arrogance. During the seminar on Franklin's autobiography we discussed the reasons and merits of such a tone, and I even argued that it was a good and necessary thing. However, one of the main themes of Dr. Gamble's seminar was Augustine's disdain for pride. There were powerful themes of gratitude and the idea that God resists the proud in the books that we discussed. I still contend that from a practical sense, which is the perspective that Franklin was writing from, a sense of pride can be extremely useful. From the religious persepective of Confessions, though, I can see pride being looked at as a negative. Now the question to ponder is which perspective should take precedence or if there is a way to reconcile the two opinions.
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