Robert Penn Warren`s `All The King`s Men`

Review of All the King 's Men

Table of Contents

Serial Number and Heading Page Number

1 .0 Introduction 02

2 .0 Overview 02

3 .0 Analysis 04

4 .0 Conclusion 07

5 .0 References 07

1 .0 Introduction

`All the King 's Men ' a novel by Robert Penn Warren , published for the first time in 1946 , went on to win the Pulitzer Prize in 1947 . This novel was actually a verse play which went by the name , `Proud Flesh The main character around whom the story revolves

is Willie Stark which seems to have been partially inspired by the life of Huey

. Long "the Kingfish " former governor of Louisiana and that state 's U .S . Senator in the mid-1930 (wikipedia , 2007

2 .0 Overview

The nature of Jack Burden`s journey from the `arid land of facts` to the `dream sea of ideas` is what the story is all about . It goes on to spell whether the journey undertaken by the hero is indeed a spiritual one or an attempt at self-discovery . An attempt has been made to explore the roots of this journey through Modernism (the breakdown of philosophical /moral consensus about the nature of things , the turn toward myth ) and Neo-Romanticism (the search for a new unifying principle amid the fragmentations of Modernity /Scientific Materialism the role of Willie Stark , Ellis Burden , Judge Irwin , and the hero 's journey through the turmoil and pleasures of life . The story revolves around the relationship between the themes of Death and Rebirth which occur in Jack 's journey through incidences of tragedy and beyond . It ends on a note of positivism , when the hero , Jack Burden , transforms himself from being a pawn to his roots in ancestral lineage

Literature Review

`All the King 's Men , is the story of the rise and fall of Willie Stark a political titan in the Deep South , who during the 1930s rose from hardscrabble poverty to become the governor of his state , and ultimately it 's most powerful political figure . The story goes on to say how Willie , the anti-hero blackmails and bullies his enemies into submission , and using his good office institutes a radical series of liberal reforms which are designed to tax the rich and ease the burden of the state 's poor farmers . This leads to a conflict of personalities which includes the notable former governor , Sam MacMurfee , and other power mongers

Jack Burden , the scion of one of the state 's aristocratic dynasties turns his back on his genteel upbringing , against the wishes of his well-wishers , which includes the influential Judge Irwin . Throwing caution to wind , Jack joins Willie on his journey to stardom , earning him the name as , Willie 's right hand . Willie takes advantage of Jack 's talent as a historical researcher to dig up the unpleasant secrets of his enemies , using this to blackmail and provocation . Cynical and lacking in ambition as he is , Jack walks away from many of his past interests the dissertation of...