The story of Cass Mastern in Robert Penn Warren’s All the King’s Men, plays a very interesting role in the novel. At first, it was unclear to me as to why the story was included in the novel—other than serving as the subject matter which Jack was exploring for his Doctoral dissertation. After reading this passage over several times, I realized that Cass’s story was significant because his demeanor—or rather, his shame and guilt—bears a jarring resemblance to Jack’s. Additionally, I was a bit confused as to why Jack would quit pursuing his Ph.D. because of this story. I believe that Jack was shaken by this story due to the possibility that he saw a great resemblance between he and Cass. Cass came from a family of wealthy plantation owners,
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As we discussed in class, this redemption takes place when he realizes that his mother is not as heartless as he originally believed. He realizes this when she mourns over the death of Judge Irwin, and confesses the deep love she had for him—though she never wanted to recognize it. In addition, Judge Irwin’s suicide was an expression of Irwin’s understanding of himself. Rather than telling Jack that he was Jack’s father in order to prevent his criminal activity from being exposed, he chose to commit suicide in order to prevent the exposure of his misdeeds. It is clear that Irwin thought negatively of his actions, which is why Jack was redeemed. Jack’s tendency to expose people’s true selves is diminished when he realizes that people (like Irwin and his mother) are able to recognize their true selves. The Cass Mastern story has to come before this redemption because Jack has a hard time believing that people understand their true natures (at the point in the novel in which Mastern’s story is told). Mastern has a full understanding of the type of person he is, and acknowledges his immorality. Jack experiences a cognitive dissonance when the concept of someone else’s self-realization is first presented to him. It challenges his previous thoughts (i.e. that all people are ingenuine, and someone else must expose their inner selves) in a way that disturbs him deeply. Jack
As we discussed in class, this redemption takes place when he realizes that his mother is not as heartless as he originally believed. He realizes this when she mourns over the death of Judge Irwin, and confesses the deep love she had for him—though she never wanted to recognize it. In addition, Judge Irwin’s suicide was an expression of Irwin’s understanding of himself. Rather than telling Jack that he was Jack’s father in order to prevent his criminal activity from being exposed, he chose to commit suicide in order to prevent the exposure of his misdeeds. It is clear that Irwin thought negatively of his actions, which is why Jack was redeemed. Jack’s tendency to expose people’s true selves is diminished when he realizes that people (like Irwin and his mother) are able to recognize their true selves. The Cass Mastern story has to come before this redemption because Jack has a hard time believing that people understand their true natures (at the point in the novel in which Mastern’s story is told). Mastern has a full understanding of the type of person he is, and acknowledges his immorality. Jack experiences a cognitive dissonance when the concept of someone else’s self-realization is first presented to him. It challenges his previous thoughts (i.e. that all people are ingenuine, and someone else must expose their inner selves) in a way that disturbs him deeply. Jack