Ben and Me: An Astonishing Life of Benjamin Franklin by His Good Mouse Amos

Ben’s character is much less complex; he is, instead, both static and flat. He begins the text with a reliance on wise-sounding maxims, and he continues to espouse them, even when Amos shows him how impractical and useless they often are. Though he is credited with the invention of the Franklin Stove, its inspiration came from Amos, just as the rhetoric used in the Declaration of Independence originated with Red. Amos suggests a fireplace in the middle of the room as well as the use of a pipe to carry its smoke outside, with bricks and sand to protect the floor; Ben builds the stove, per Amos’s specifications. Amos describes Ben as “always fair […], just overenthusiastic about himself” (16), the result, perhaps, of society’s overestimation of Ben’s abilities or Amos’s underestimation of them; perhaps it is a bit of both. Further, Ben is true to his word and “lived up to” his promises, such as his agreement to provide food for Amos’s family, as “not once in all the rest of his life did that bread, cheese, and wheat fail to reach [them] twice a week, regular as clockwork” (17-18). He isn’t totally scrupulous, though, as he deceives Amos, using him in one particularly dangerous and frightening experiment without Amos’s consent. Moreover, when General Washington asks for Ben’s opinion on which foreign power the colonies should ask for aid, Ben allows his body rather than his brain to make his choice. The prospect of delicious food, drink, and beautiful ladies entices him to insist on France, failing to consider any of the other options Washington presents. He isn’t thinking about the colonies here but about his own pleasure.

Ben may be an honorable guy, for the most part, but he is also presented as very simple and lacking in both foresight and insight, with significant personal flaws that highlight how often people overlook the idiosyncrasies of their heroes. Amos describes how, from his vantage point in Ben’s cap, he “was often able to prevent [Ben] from plunging into a mud puddle or a market cart” (19). Ben is so bumbling, so generally ridiculous, that he cannot even make his way down the street without Amos’s help, let alone navigate the treacherous waters of the French court. His general lack of self-awareness is fundamental to his character, though his radically contradictory public persona hides many of his flaws from view. Amos often gives Ben advice, “unnoticed by others” (19), and credits himself with the creation of Ben’s reputation as a perceptive, quick-thinking, and innovative man. Though Ben is revered by many, he often behaves very childishly, such as when he burns his fingers playing with firecrackers or is cheered by the prospect of a hero’s welcome at home after leaving France in some disgrace.

Red is a minor, though important, character who appears in two significant scenes in the novel. He is a reddish mouse who travels with Thomas Jefferson, a radical “young firebrand” who speaks and writes with “eloquence” and has a tremendous “capacity for leadership” (67), according to Amos. Red wrote a “Manifesto” in which he details the wrongs mice suffer at the hands of humankind, and he responds with “fury” when Ben steals his language and ideas for use in the Declaration of Independence. The irony—that a mouse wrote the very words that cause the committee to be “much pleased with themselves for producing such a splendid document” (69)—is two-fold. First, Ben and Thomas, and many rebellious colonials, launch their arguments for a dissolution of the relationship between England and its colonies on moral grounds. And yet, they have plagiarized the very founding document in which that ethos is elaborated. Second, mice are thought of as timorous creatures who run from danger, yet Red’s patriotism is bolder than that of the men who are credited with creating the logical, persuasive language of the Declaration.

Red proves his dedication to freedom and justice for all once again when he joins Amos to free Sophia’s children from their wrongful imprisonment at the French court. In fact, he “boil[s] with rage” (86) when Amos tells him how the court betrayed Sophia. Like Amos, Red has nothing to gain and everything to lose from assisting this stranger, and he could easily perish in the fight with palace guards. Red promises Amos that, having spent a particularly bitter winter at Valley Forge, he is disciplined in his adherence to his principles, and his actions before and during the skirmish confirm this. When Amos needs more soldiers, Red pledges to enlist the “Slum Mice and Sewer Rats of Paris [who] are ripe for Revolution” (87) due to the oppression they’ve endured at the hands of the aristocracy. He convinces them to join the fight and “battle[s] doggedly,” even when they abandon him. Red’s convictions are strong, and Amos is grateful for his “dynamic lieutenant” (90).