All the King's Men: History's Importance
Throughout All the King's Men, history plays an important role in
the motivations and lives of all the characters. History's
importance is most noticeable, not surprisingly, in the story main
characters - Willie Stark and Jack Burden - whose lives focus on and,
in some cases, depend upon history and how they relate themselves to
it. While Willie Stark views history as a tool with which to
manipulate people for his own ends, an attitude resulting in his
own destruction, Jack Burden's view of history changes over time
and eventually allows him to accept his relationship to the past
and, therefore, present. Since each man has such a differing view
it is no wonder that history becomes important to each in different
ways. Willie Stark must support his entire empire in a world of
enemies and corruption, to do this he relies on the past to
provide him with the foundation.
"Dirt's a funny thing," the Boss said. "Come to think of it, there
ain't a thing but dirt on this God's green globe except what's
under water, and that's dirt too. It's dirt makes the grass grow.
A diamond ain't a thing in the world but a piece of dirt that got
awful hot. God-a-Mighty picked up a handful of dirt and blew on it
and made you and me and George Washington and mankind blessed in
faculty and apprehension. It all depends on what you do with the
dirt."1 In this case, Stark is referring to the past as dirt - something
to be used in many ways. The way he chooses to use it of course is
as blackmail; "Then he would lean suddenly forward, at the man, and
say, not slow and easy now, `God damn you, do you know what I can do
to you?' And he could too. For he had the goods."2 Thus history is
important to Stark as the device by which he maintains power.
Both Stark and Burden use history differently according to the way
it figures into their lives. To Stark, ultimate power being paramount,
history is a thing to be used in the manipulation of others to
In America today, when the name of honor is often adulterated by glaring headlines proclaiming the guilt of an immoral politician or the fall of a disgraced executive, it is easy to forget that the country was founded for the pursuit of truth, for only in truth can people find real happiness. Thomas Jefferson famously included the pursuit happiness as an unalienable right in the Declaration of Independence, but in an intimate letter to William Roscoe, a British historian, Jefferson wrote, “This institution will be based on the illimitable freedom of the human mind. For here we are not afraid to follow truth wherever it may lead.” In his flagship novel, All the King’s Men, Robert Penn Warren embraces the Founding Father’s principles with his characterization of both Willie Stark and Jack Burden. Warren’s novel is an American classic because it traces the lives of two lost men as each man follows his personalized compass pointing towards complete understanding. After elevating him to unprecedented heights, Willie’s interpretation of truth returns to drag him down to the Underworld. Only when Jack learns that not even Willie can be omnipotent does he stop trying to understand everything. Willie Stark and Jack Burden embody the essence of Thomas Jefferson’s words because, in a sense, they both attain freedom through their pursuit of truth.
though in the end, he is overcome by the forces of knowledge. Willie did not
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight – A Test of Chivalry Essay with Outline: Loyalty, courage, honor, purity, and courtesy are all attributes of a knight that displays chivalry. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is truly a story of the test of these attributes. In order to have a true test of these attributes, there must first be a knight worthy of being tested, meaning that the knight must possess chivalric attributes to begin with. Sir Gawain is admittedly not the best knight around. He says "I am the weakest, well I know, and of wit feeblest; / and the loss of my life [will] be the least of any" (Sir Gawain, l. 354-355).
If only time travel were possible, the past would no longer be an entity to regret. Every single person on this planet has regrets of unfulfilled past opportunities, and that is no exaggeration. No human can honestly say they have lived a life with no regrets. One of the main flaws of human nature is hindsight, or the ability to look back on past mistakes and form new ideas as to how the situation could have better been handled. In the story All the King’s Men, Jack Burden is his own worst enemy. Jack takes everything to the heart, no matter how menial the comment or action. He allows his past to rule his life as though history repeats itself without fail. The person allowing the past to repeat itself is Jack, however his so-called best friend Willie shares the blame. Willie is the reason for most of Jack’s misfortunes although Jack always has the option to walk away but never does. The downfall of man will be none other than himself. For example, no critic but the artist who created the work will see each and every flaw. In All the King’s Men, Robert Penn Warren utilizes a myriad of characters and their emotions to display morose obsessions with previous faults.
In Shakespeare’s play, Macbeth‚ the theme of masculinity is explored. As Macbeth matures‚ there are times when his masculinity is put to the test, mostly after the murder of Duncan. There are four main themes in which masculinity is presented in the play.
After being jailed in the Birmingham city jail, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., a Baptist minister who preached nonviolence, wrote this response to a published statement by eight fellow clergymen from Alabama. This letter was not only composed under somewhat constricting circumstances but was written in a way that can be analyzed to be considered as a classic argument. Not only does it contain the five elements needed in a rhetorical situation, but the letter includes the six parts of an argument, the five types of claims, and even the three types of proofs. Dr. King’s letter fully satisfies all requirements needed in order to be considered a classic argument.
“If the human race didn’t remember anything it would be perfectly happy" (44). Thus runs one of the early musings of Jack Burden, the protagonist of Robert Penn Warren’s All the King’s Men. Throughout the story, however, as Jack gradually opens his eyes to the realities of his own nature and his world, he realizes that the human race cannot forget the past and survive. Man must not only remember, but also embrace the past, because it teaches him the truth about himself and enables him to face the future.
Religion has found its place in literature throughout humanity as religion offers something for people of all classes and heritages to believe in. Humanity and politics have changed over time, but faith remains. The Bible and other religious texts have been the backbone to many successful novels. The novel All the King’s Men by Robert Penn Warren reveals the life of a fictional Governor to the American South during the 1930s. The novel focuses on the personal and political lives of Willie Stark and his right hand man, Jack Burden. Religious elements are apparent in their lives, as well as others in the novel. The novel All the King’s Men by Robert Penn Warren explores religious aspects in the political and personal lives of the main characters.
Think about the cotton in your shirt, the sugar in your coffee, and the shoes on your feet, all of which could be products of child labor. Child labor is a practice that deprives children of their childhood, their potential, and their dignity and includes over 200 million children worldwide who are involved in the production of goods for companies and industries willing to exploit these kids for profit. Although most countries have laws prohibiting child labor, a lack of funding and manpower means that these laws are rarely enforced on a large scale. However, even for a first-world country like the United States, that has a large number of state and federal law enforcement officers, child labor is still a problem because priority is given to crimes that are more violent or heinous. Child labor must be made a priority issue because it is a global plague whose victims are physically and psychologically scarred, lack a proper education, are impoverished, and whose children are doomed to the same fate if nothing changes.
Standardized Tests restrict student learning in the classroom (Cole, Hulley, and Quarles 17). The teachers in a classroom cannot teach what they would like to teach, but rather they are forced to teach what will be on the test. Often, when teachers teach what will be on the test, many students will begin to zone out and do other things, rather than listen to the teacher drill them with memorization for the tests (Willis 59) Teachers are graded based on how well their students do on these standardized tests, so they will teach only what is going to be on the test, to keep their jobs, or even get raises. Whenever this happens, students are hurt because they lose out on many opportunities to learn, and they even lose critical thinking skills. The testing curriculum often also places too many goals for students and teachers to reach, which will force them to move more quickly and not properly address every topic (Popham 71). Which, in the long run with further encourage only teaching the test, and nothing else.
about in a dreamy state" contemplating what to buy and ends up with a huge plan
The title of the book is All The King’s Men and the Publication date for this book is 1996.
Child labor is the employment of children, but not all work done by children should be classified as child labor that should be eliminated. Children’s participation in work that does not affect their health and personal development or interfere with their schooling is generally regarded as being something positive. The term “child labor” is defined as work that deprives children of their childhood, interferes with their ability to attend regular school, and that is mentally, physically, socially or morally dangerous and harmful.
In Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen tells of the romantic exploits and drama of the Bennet family. Due to the prejudice of most of the characters, even the protagonist, Elizabeth Bennet, misunderstandings and problematic situations arise. It does not help the heroine that many antagonists stand in her way. The most prominent villain turns out to be George Wickham, a member of the militia of whom uses his good looks and seemingly good personality to lie and manipulate others, playing ignorant to the troubles he has created; he becomes a large contributor to Lizzy’s prejudice and the book’s overall concept of a judgmental society that favors certain characteristics of a person over others.
The term ‘child labor’ is used to define any work that is mentally, physically and morally harmful to children, and interferes with their education (ILO). Children have been used as a labor force throughout most of our history. After decades of struggle aimed to combat the massive employment of child labor, the Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1989 ratified that children have the right to develop harmoniously their personality in a loving family environment. Moreover, it recognized the right of the children to be protected from exploitation, and any form of labor that jeopardizes their physical, mental and moral well-being. However, child labor is still eagerly diffuse in developing countries,