Benjamin Franklin strives to be even more perfect than he envisions himself to be. He has a strong belief that he is better than everyone else, while professing to be humble. D. H. Lawrence is correct in his theory concluding that Benjamin Franklin is a hypocrite. Franklin was a man who believed he was capable of anything that he deemed attainable and although he achieved many accomplishments within his life, he never lived up to the priority goal that he had set for himself. The perfection of morality. This wasn't just one failure for Franklin, because his outline of this perfection was built with many little qualities and characteristics he wished to uphold, so having failed at the biggest goal actually consisted of many little failures throughout his life. .
Lawrence states, (DHL 22) "I am a moral animal. But I am not a moral machine."" He goes on further to say ( 22 ) "That I am I. That I will never let mankind put anything over me, but that I will try always to recognize and submit to the gods in me and the gods in other men and women."" He is making the point the Benjamin Franklin has built up an unattainable standard for all man. Lawrence lets us know that living up to one's own standards and goals are more realistic.
Lawrence talks about Franklin's 13 virtues (DHL 17)(Franklin 94) and notes that humility was added as an afterthought when a friend of Franklin's said that he was considered proud. He then goes onto state that Franklin believed his only fault was that order was his stumbling block because he could not learn to be neat and tidy. Franklin had nothing worse to confess about himself (DHL 19). Implying that not one person is perfect because everyone many characteristics within themselves, Lawrence diminishes Franklin's idealism. (DHL15) "The perfectibility of man! Ah heaven, what a dreary theme! The perfectibility of which man? I am many men. Which one are you going to perfect?- He continues by letting the reader know that he does not agree that everyone should be held to the standard that Franklin has set.