Acosta and Franklin

We already talked about this in class a couple of weeks ago but I think the contrast between Acosta and Franklin is worth mentioning again. As I finished the book, I found it interesting that both Franklin and Acosta were searching for their identity but in completely different ways. Franklin knew who he wanted to be and tried to impose this ideal on himself. His search was systematic and involved ignoring his bodily needs. Acosta, on the other hand, was just wandering around the country trying to find others like him. His body was the leading mechanism in his search. Franklin was leading a nation that was unified and organized as his own life. Acosta was in the bottom of a nation of different, mixed and conflicting mass of people just as the food he consumed. Franklin's autobiography was like a manual on how to liveour lives and achieve the American Dream. Acosta's autobiography was still a manual on how to achieve the American Dream but it presented a life few people would choose to live. So I was wondering - why such a huge difference? Is it because they lived in different times, or because of the difference in their social status? I think they both saw the same but decided to present it differently. Franklin wrote his 'manual' on how to be accomplished because this is what purpose he thought an autobiography should serve. Acosta wrote about what happens if Franklin's methods fail. In the end he still felt accomplished and found his identity. So I almost see the two books serving the same purpose - finding our identity and our place in society, but one is the extension of the other.