One aspect of the Autobiography that I really appreciated was the way Franklin approached fatherly instruction. He doesn't bluntly say this is bad and that is good and you shouldn't do this because of x, y, and z; rather, he presents his own mistakes in life (which he aptly calls Erratum) and shows what he learned from them, in order to prevent his son (and the other readers he anticipated) from making the same ones. This is a very human and understandable and particularly unpretentious method of instruction. As a son, and one day (not too soon hopefully) a father, I admire his honesty and modesty in relating these Erratum to his son. One instance of Franklin's fatherly instruction deals with a topic men inevitably have to approach (usually with some trepidation) with their sons: relations with the opposite sex. The ensuing "talk" typically involves bad metaphors and trite phrases; however Franklin spends but one concise paragraph discussing the face-reddening topic.
"That hard-to-be-govern'd passion of youth, had hurried me frequently into Intrigues with low Women [..] which were attended with some Expence and great inconvenience, besides a continual Risque to my Health by a Distemper which of all Things I dreaded, tho' by great good Luck I escaped it" (128).
Franklin doesn't lecture about the possibility of contracting deadly diseases through sex, but rather mentions his luck escaping contracting them. He calls his sexual exploits "intrigues with low women," both recognizing the situation's appeal and potential for disgrace and disease. Franklin also considers (yet doesn't exactly explicate why or how) the entire act to be a waste of time and money - not to mention a health risk! By describing how he struggles against "that hard-to-be-govern'd passion of youth," he humanizes lust and passion - simultaneously criticizing the act and pardoning the actor. He also approaches the whole topic from a pragmatist's standpoint, again demonstrating the balance of principle and inclination. This first-hand anecdote shows that he understands life is full of these difficult considerations, and the way to wade through them is to keep a level head and maintain a thought process that thoroughly examines grey situations.
