All the King’s Men by Robert Penn Warren

1565 Words4 Pages

Following the trials and tribulations of a seemingly political powerhouse, Willie Starks, Robert Penn Warren’s “All the King’s Men” takes an intriguing twist with the rise of influence in the character of Jack Burden. Although Willie Starks is seemingly the main character of the story, Robert Penn Warren, plays Jack Burden’s evolution in the plot as the pivotal piece to the story. Watching the two of their relationship develop, is the key piece to the plot of the story. Although this novel traces the rise and untimely death of a political proprietor, it also provides insight into the atmosphere that produced a person like Willie Starks. While Penn Warren also doesn’t initially show the importance of Jack Burden’s character but touches on it in order to bring up the topic serenely. Penn Warren creates a novel about two characters and their development through the struggles they faced as business partners. A seemingly insignificant character, Jack Burden, develops into a complex personality of a man who lost his past and through his experiences with Willie Stark must find it. His story introduces the role of history in the protagonists’ lives while ushering the idea of actions affecting people and the ripple effect it creates in the life of Willie. Living his life in a cocoon, Penn Warren displays the process in which he emerges out of this cocoon into a dynamic part of this story. Intertwined with Willie Stark’s life, the experiences of one effects the story of the other. Reinforcing each other while also creating feuds that reflect on the rest of the story creating the depth of the novel.

Structurally complex, All the King’s Men takes a unique approach in telling the story of Willie Starks and Jack Burden. Describing events fr...

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...e another. Jack, the narrator of the novel undergoes the most monumental alteration and at the end of the story we learn the most about. Although Willie is the most powerful figure in the story, it is primarily a story told by Jack Burden. Both characters rely on each other because without Jack, Willie’s life would mean little to nothing and vise versa. Complex characters in and of themselves, they both act in a manner that seems contradictory, this manner being rooted to their pasts. Therefore the events of the past are crucial to the understanding of the both of them in this present. This idea that Penn Warren uses adds depth to the already complex image of both Jack and Willie. Though a story about the rise and conflicts of a political figure, Willie, Jack emerges as the focal point of this story to show his development from the past into creating his own future.

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