Robert Penn Warren All The Kings Men Analysis

Improved Essays
Robert Penn Warren All the Kings' Men portrays the rise of Willie Stark from poverty to governor with the help of his right hand man Jack Burden. For a better analysis on how to do the right thing in politics through Willie Stark, Thomas Aquinas and Niccol'o Machiavelli provide sufficient evidence to support his methods of leadership. When Machiavelli stated, "Ascent to princely power by some criminal or evil conduct; and the rise of a private citizen to supreme authority in his land through choice of his fellow citizens" (Machiavelli 25), relates to how Willie Stark shows us how the political process works and what it takes to obtain power despite his personal life infidelities. Stark went by the motto his way or the highway as he used his power to make his enemies submit to his demands, which is a form of Machiavellism where all morality has been set aside, but still does the right thing by the people as he makes them his first priority. Jack Burden being the protagonist and second in command to Willie Stark does help us understand how politics worked and has continued in the same way, but does not provide adequate …show more content…
Sands, Steven D. Ealy's All the Kings' Men analysis justifies Willie Stark's actions on how he helps us do the right thing in politics. As mentioned above some might say Stark was immoral, but Steven says, "Stark maintains an admirable self-discipline as a self-made man and is committed to certain goals throughout his career and does not betray his principles, at least not explicitly, for political gain" (Ealy, 94), meaning although he has commitment problems his political views are not in question as explained above. Stark might have lost himself in power, but Steven D. Ealy explains "Willie Stark can save everyone except himself" (Ealy, 95), this statement makes a connection with Stark as he was willing to be a good leader to the people, despite his personal troubles, in my opinion can be justified as doing right by the

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    A Guy Who makes Monsters When most people think of Stephen King they think horror. Though he has written many short stories and novel based on horror, he writes many different genera’s except romance. Based on his biographical information it will help readers understand why this is. In Kings’ western themed story “A Death” Jim Trusdale is arrested for the murder of a young girl and for stealing her silver birthday dollar. This story takes place in Black Hills, Dakota.…

    • 1112 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    “A seat in the Garden” by Thomas King, tells the story of the Aboriginal people in Canada today, the stereotypes placed on the people, this story also uses irony to portray the issues and placement of Aboriginals today. At the beginning of the story King draws our attention to the issues of how the Aboriginal people were treated like Canada doesn’t belong to them and they only get to have certain parts of the country after the white people took over their land. “Yeah, yeah. Hey! This is a private property.…

    • 751 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    For hundreds of years, civilizations have depended on rulers to manage the people and prevent anarchy from erupting. While some leaders execute these actions with ease, others fail to do so and often lose their states to opposing rulers or forces. Niccoló Machiavelli, an Italian philosopher who lived from 1469 to 1527, describes in his book, The Prince, the characteristics he deems necessary in a strong ruler. Throughout the book, Machiavelli uses leaders of his time, like Cesare Borgia and King Louis XII, as examples of what a person should or should not do in order to maintain or improve his state. However, a more recent leader who exemplifies the qualities outlined by Machiavelli is King Louis XIV of France, as he was content with being…

    • 1107 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Salem Witch Trials were a bloody time in colonial America during the 1600’s, depicted in Arthur Miller 's play, The Crucible. The events of the trials in the play are dramatically depicted, although the plot gives an accurate prediction of what would happen during a time of mass hysteria. Many characters have contributed to the mass hysteria, but some are more to blame than others. The character Mary Warren is more to blame than the character Abigail Williams because Mary is easily manipulated, has switched sides during the trials, and was not forthright with evidence.…

    • 1752 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Ralph And Jack 's Battle To Leader In the book, lord of the flies written by William Golding, a bunch of children get stuck on an island with no adults. So of course they need a person who is in charge of them to help kind of guide them into the right direction. Some people chose ralph and some chose jack. Ralph is the kind of person that wants to lay down the orders and make sure that the rest of the kids on the island aren 't messing around and being responsible.…

    • 1012 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Great Twitch and Cass Mastern In All The King’s Men, Robert Penn Warren tells the story of Willie Stark, Governor of a an unnamed state in the south during the mid 1900s. The story is narrated by Jack Burden, a man that was employed by Stark to do miscellaneous tasks. Throughout the novel Burden does not have a sense of responsibility for his actions and fails to realize the actions will have future consequences. Chapter four in the novel focuses on Cass Mastern, the topic of Burden’s dissention paper that he abandoned.…

    • 1285 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Robert E Lee Analysis

    • 1199 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Confederate General Robert E. Lee is possibly the most controversial and yet widely respected out of all the Civil War commanders. Historians have held different views about the beloved General for over a hundred years, such as Robert W. Winston in his book Robert E. Lee; A Biography (1934), Michael Fellman in The Making of Robert E. Lee (2000), and Margaret Sanborn’s Robert E. Lee: A Portrait (1966). Winston’s theme in his book created a different outlook on General Lee than the latter two historians; he vigorously wrote mainly about the perfection of Lee whereas Fellman and Sanborn saw him more as a human being with flaws and mistakes. Though Winston placed Lee at the highest respect as the great general, Sanborn regarded the man as someone who allowed the Civil War to happen, and Fellman stated that it was the aftermath of the war that caused Lee to gain such celebrity status.…

    • 1199 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Andrew Carnegie, John D. Rockefeller and Cornelius are considered to be the three businessmen who generated big business and tremendous wealth. With steel, oil and railroads being the drive force of the Gilded Age, was modern corporation the start to these massive corporations at this time? Janelle, you mentioned that Andrew Carnegie created the growth of the steel industry and he used certain methods to transform the industry. Did other successful business also follow Carnegie's methods or did they use other techniques to stay competitive? After reading the chapter, it is amazing to know that these three powerful businessmen created the foundation to the 2nd industrial revolution of how to run and do business.…

    • 133 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Niccolò Machiavelli and Alvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca went through different experiences that led them to have their own perspectives in human nature and create their ideals for good governance. The simple fact that Cabeza de Vaca was unfortunate enough to have a hard time throughout the expedition made him more open minded about human nature, while Machiavelli had a set idea of what human nature was and how it ties to good governance. Machiavelli's view on human nature is the same as what is a good governance a good leader and a good human being is someone who knows how to be respected and feared without being hated and how that leads to have the people the Prince governs happy and on his side. Cabeza de Vaca has a more down to earth view on human nature but that differs…

    • 2016 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Decent Essays

    In the beginning of All the King’s Men, the character of Governor Willie Stark is portrayed as a man with the ability to adapt his behavior to his surrounding environment. After returning to his hometown to seemingly “go out and see his pappy” (Warren 14), Stark is asked by the local residents of Mason City to give a speech. Not having anything prepared prior, Stark is able to deliver a speech that is truthful, yet informal, making him appear as a genuine man of the people. This can be seen when he says, “...I didn’t come here to ask you to give me anything, not even a vote,” and “...I’m not a politician today... I’m taking the day off,” (Warren 15).…

    • 185 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In All the King’s Men by Robert Penn Warrren, while Jack Burden was working for his Ph.D in American History, he comes across a story about a man named Cass Mastern. Although Jack spends countless hours researching about Cass Masterns life, he was never able to finish writing about him since he believed that he could not understand Cass’s life. It was because Jack did not understand how in order to understand the past he must understand the present and how the present can become the past. Jack struggles with philosophical debate of living in the past or the present. All the King’s Men is told through past memoires and events described by the present day Jack.…

    • 369 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    look at John Locke and Niccole Machiavelli John Locke and Niccole Machiavelli are two philosophers from the Renaissance period, who focused their work on creating a better society and government. Their work consists of theories of how rulers should rule their land and how they can get their subjects support. Locke’s Two Treaties of Government of Civil Government, is contrary to Machiavelli’s book The Prince. Whereas, Locke’s book is to justify the revolution of when King James II was removed from power, Machiavelli’s book is about how a ruler should exercise his power and gain control. Machiavelli’s theory is similar to dictatorship and Locke’s theory is the basis for classical liberalism.…

    • 880 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Servant Leadership Introduction There are many opinions and strategies about how to effectively lead people. Throughout the ages it has been a problem that leaders and rules have tried to solve. How can a person bring together a group of people to effectively accomplish a task together? As time has marched on, different opinions have risen and declined in popularity.…

    • 1092 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    The Organization of Society Machiavelli’s The Prince, a story is told, explaining multiple routes of portraying his definition of a “good” prince. He then divulges his beliefs of how one should never forget to prepare for or contemplate war, study history, remain armed at all times and be a “miser”. Rousseau’s The Origin of Civil Society, is based upon an entirely different morale which derives from reasoning and ethics.…

    • 1209 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    All the King’s Men Reaction In the 1949 film, All the King’s Men, it depicts a story about the rise of a political monster named Willie Stark, a hick from Konoma County. He begins his political career running for local treasurer and is believed to be an honest man. The local politicians attempt to intimidate Stark and push him away from politics. After losing, Stark becomes an attorney and fights to do good in his county.…

    • 671 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays