The Whistle by Benjamin Franklin Book Review

A wealthy, diligent man works every day to accumulate more wealth. He foolishly trades all of his possessions and children for slightly more wealth. This foolish man is what Franklin wants people to avoid acting like. Franklin writes about actions like this in the parable “The Whistle.” This parable starts with an instance when Franklin paid four times as much money for a whistle then it was worth. He uses this to judge other situations where people paid too much for their whistle. Franklin utilizes elegant word choice, strategic manipulation of sentences, and meticulous selection of details to compel his audience to challenge the status quo.

Franklin’s sophisticated word choice persuades his audience to trust him and make them want to change themselves. Franklin influences his audience and makes them trust him using detailed word choice. Franklin expresses that he has a lot of wisdom and knowledge of the people he is surrounded by when he states, “with all this wisdom of which I am boasting, there are certain things in the world so tempting” (Franklin). His wisdom which he is boasting does not include everything that can happen. This makes the reader trust him as he has a lot of wisdom, this makes him seem credible as he is very intelligent. His elegant word choice is used when he states that he has wisdom that he boasts. These words link the sentence together and provide the reader with a more trustworthy view of Franklin. This view of Franklin provides for an easy way for him to make the audience challenge the status quo, as they trust him. While Franklin uses his word choice to make the reader trust him, he additionally uses his word choice to make them alter their ways of thinking.  In “The Whistle” Franklin buys a whistle for more than it is worth, he exclaims his feeling of regret when his family criticizes him for this action; “and laughed at me so much for my folly, that I cried with vexation” (Franklin). This alters the reader's thinking when he cries with vexation and this statement proves that he influences the reader to want to change their ways. This influences the reader as they do not want to experience this regret, so they will attempt to not pay too much for something that is not worth it. It also helps the reader to challenge the status quo for it establishes the reader's mindset that they do not want to feel this regret, so they will challenge what is normal to achieve this. Franklin effortlessly uses word choice to persuade the reader, however, he also uses his strategic manipulation of sentences to influence them.

Franklin’s tactical manipulation of sentences persuades the reader with thoughtful placement of sentences and arrangement of words in sentences. He uses thoughtful placement of sentences to convince the reader to challenge what is normal. He portrays this when he writes, “for to me it seems that most of the unhappy people we meet with are become so by neglect of that caution” (Franklin). This sentence would easily fit in any other part of the parable, however, he places this sentence when talking about his initial story of the whistle. This affects the reader as this placement forces the reader to fixate on it. The sentence fits at the end of a paragraph which persuades the reader by making them look at it and try to understand that if they are unhappy it is because they paid too much for their whistle. This consequently allows Franklin to convince the reader that they should challenge the normal or they will be unhappy later. His manipulation of sentences also convinces the reader with the arrangement of words in them. He shows this as he writes, “this, however, was afterwards of use to me, the impression continuing on my mind” (Franklin). This strategic manipulation of words forces the reader to shun the idea of spending too much on unnecessary objects. This manipulation also attracts the reader with the rough configuration of the sentence. It causes the reader to want to imprint their mind with the idea that they should challenge what is normal and not spend more than what they perceive it is worth. Franklin’s tactical use of literary techniques is also shown with his selection of details.

Franklin’s thoughtful selection of details allows the reader to challenge the status quo with obvious details, along with details the audience relates to. His thoughtful selection of details is prominently shown with the more obvious details. This is shown when tells an anecdote about a person who gives up every comfortable pleasure for wealth; “who gave up every kind of comfortable living, all the pleasure of doing good to others, all the esteem of his fellow-citizens, and the joys of benevolent friendship, for the sake of accumulating wealth” (Franklin). This story outwardly shows Franklin’s purpose. To the audience this person obviously seems unreal, as no one would willingly give up all luxuries for wealth. This selection of details results in the reader being able to easily challenge the people who act similarly to this man, and allows for the ability to challenge the status quo. While some of Franklin’s details are obvious, there are more subtle details that allow for the audience to relate with the story. These relatable details are shown in one of his anecdotes when he writes “when I see a beautiful swee-tempered girl married to an ill-natured brute of a husband, What a pity, say I, that she should pay so much for a whistle” (Franklin). This story is relatable with the audience as most people know someone in an unstable relationship. This lets the story influence the reader greatly as it appeals to pathos and wants them to challenge what is normal so these patterns of relationships can end. This coincides with Franklin’s idea that people should challenge the status quo. Various well thought out details like these are prominently displayed in “The Whistle.”

Franklin uses several literary techniques to skillfully persuade the reader to challenge the status quo. Franklin’s many anecdotes throughout the story are beneficial for portraying this lesson.  He uses the stories to show that people should not pay more than something is worth. He also alters the wording and placement of sentences to efficiently display his purpose and lesson in the parable. Franklin’s skillful use of literary techniques are applied in “The Whistle” to show he wants citizens to challenge the normal.