Young men are the ones who move the
world forward, for good or for bad, according to Sir Francis Bacon.
His essay Of Youth and Age is about the differences of
contributions between older and younger people. Through his tone and
his examples, plus the insertion of a flaw of his main subject, Bacon
shows how the young men are the contributors to the positive effects
in society.
Bacon has a very admiring and positive
tone when speaking of the young men and the reasons they can
contribute to society. He states they have the fresh and imaginative
minds that will lead changes forward. He also says they are “fitter
to invent” and “fitter for new projects.” He believes that the
younger men, mostly, are the ones who are uninfluenced by problems
and situations that would make them very wary of their situations.
The admiring tone he uses leads the readers to believe he has done
his research and learned very much about the differences he has seen
between the works of older people and the younger.
He goes on to speak about leaders in
history who had done great things and given great contributions to
society. Augustus Caesar spread out the Roman Empire at an early age,
and have Rome it's many artistic advances that are still seen today.
The fact that Bacon brings in historic figures that made an impact
that is still seen in life today makes his point about young men
being the leaders of the future far more believable.
Bacon points out a flaw with young men,
but counters that with the flaws of old men, which make the younger
look the leaders in situations. He states that the “errors of young
men, are the ruin of business; but the errors of aged men, amount but
to this” supporting the above point. He believes that the older men
often wait to make a change while young men are more interested in
making a change right away. He states that the reason for this is
that younger men do not particularly think about the outcomes of
making the changes, which time has shown the elders to be careful
with what they do, which leads to nothing being done at all. The
bring up of a flaw with both sides serves to heighten the opinions of
the younger men because the readers believe that the younger are the
ones who were more successful even though they may have made mistakes
but not thinking things all the way through.
By bringing up historical figures,
using his tone, and using flaws of the main subject of his argument,
Bacon makes it clear that the young men are the ones who will and
have led society farther in its success. The audience finds it easy
to listen and believe him because he gives examples of figures who
have changed history, he sounds as if he has done his research
completely, and he points out a flaw that is replaced and heightened
by the flaws of the older men.
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