1. What is the source of the title All the King’s Men? What significance does this title have? Why do you think Warren used this title rather than the title of the play from which the novel was developed (Proud Flesh)? 2. What are the two major roles that Jack […]
Read more Study Help Essay QuestionsCritical Essays The Cass Mastern Episode
Most of the events from the past that are introduced into All the King’s Men have a clear bearing either on the life of Willie Stark or on the life of Jack Burden. The story of Cass Mastern, however, seems to have little bearing on anything in the novel, even […]
Read more Critical Essays The Cass Mastern EpisodeCritical Essays A Chronology of Events in All the King’s Men
Some of the dates listed below are provided quite differently in the novel; most, however, have been deduced by comparisons between events whose dates are known and events whose dates are not known. For example, the novel does not state when Jack Burden was born, but it does indicate that […]
Read more Critical Essays A Chronology of Events in All the King’s MenRobert Penn Warren Biography
Life and Times Most writers are satisfied if they are successful in one or two areas of just one literary genre. A few have been successful in two genres. In comparison with the usual career of a writer, however, Robert Penn Warren’s career is astounding. He is a prize-winning novelist […]
Read more Robert Penn Warren BiographyCharacter Analysis Jack Burden and Willie Stark
Jack Burden and Willie Stark are, of course, the paired central characters of All the King’s Men. Jack Burden is important because he is the narrator of the novel and because he is the character who undergoes the greatest change; he is also the character about whom, ultimately, we learn […]
Read more Character Analysis Jack Burden and Willie StarkSummary and Analysis Chapter 10
Earlier in the novel, when he talked about his days as a graduate student of history, Jack Burden said that, whereas his roommates were trying to escape the future, he was trying to escape the present. To that end, he buried himself in the study of the past, particularly in […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Chapter 10Summary and Analysis Chapter 9
As Jack points out, life is a series of stories within stories; there never is a neat, clear-cut ending to any sequence of events, for the reverberations from one sequence are felt in other sequences Thus, the death of Judge Irwin ends only one particular story, the story of Judge […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Chapter 9Summary and Analysis Chapter 8
At the beginning of this chapter, Jack Burden meets an old man who has a facial tic — that is, his left cheek involuntarily twitches to a kind of rhythm, and this tic has been a part of him for so long that he is not even aware of it. […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Chapter 8Summary and Analysis Chapter 7
Chapter Seven clarifies a number of things that have been either suggested or implied earlier in the novel. It clarifies what Jack Burden’s earlier relationship with Anne Stanton was and why that relationship has remained in a state of limbo. It also clarifies the ways in which Jack has insulated […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Chapter 7Summary and Analysis Chapter 6
Jack’s search for something disreputable about Judge Irwin covered approximately seven months, ending with his visit to Miss Littlepaugh in Memphis in March 1937. Chapter Six overlaps Chapter Five: that is, part of the action described in Chapter Six is concurrent with Jack’s search, and the thematic emphases of the […]
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