- This article is about the book. For the 1949 film of the book, see All the King's Men (1949 film). For the 2006 film of the book, see All the King's Men (2006 film). For the BBC feature-length drama on the Sandringham Company, see All the King's Men (1999 tv film).
All the King's Men is a Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Robert Penn Warren, published in 1946 and made into a film in 1949 and again in 2006. It derives its title from a line in the Humpty Dumpty nursery rhyme. Image File history File links Summary Cover of All the Kings Men. ...
Robert Penn Warren Robert Penn Warren (April 24, 1905 – September 15, 1989) was an American poet, novelist, and literary critic, and was one of the founders of The New Criticism. ...
In political geography and international politics, a country is a political division of a geographical entity, a sovereign territory, most commonly associated with the notions of state or nation and government. ...
The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ...
Social fiction (also called political fiction) is sub-genre of science fiction focused on possible development of societies (most often set in near future or a fictional country), very often dominated by totalitarian governments. ...
A publisher is a person or entity which engages in the act of publishing. ...
Harcourt Trade Publishers is a U.S. publishing firm, and one of the worlds largest publishers of textbooks. ...
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All the Kings Men is a 1949 film based on the Robert Penn Warren novel of the same name. ...
Promotional poster for All the Kings Men All the Kings Men (2006) is an adaptation of the 1946 Pulitzer Prize winning novel by Robert Penn Warren and a remake of the 1949 Academy Award-winning movie, All the Kings Men. As of December 2005, extended post-production...
The Royal Norfolk Regiment, orignally formed as the Norfolk Regiment, was a regiment of the British Army. ...
A scene from the drama For film adaptations of the American novel, see All the Kings Men. ...
No prize was awarded in 1917. ...
A novel (from French nouvelle Italian novella, new) is an extended, generally fictional narrative, typically in prose. ...
Robert Penn Warren Robert Penn Warren (April 24, 1905 – September 15, 1989) was an American poet, novelist, and literary critic, and was one of the founders of The New Criticism. ...
Film is a term that encompasses individual motion pictures, the field of film as an art form, and the motion picture industry. ...
All the Kings Men is a 1949 film based on the Robert Penn Warren novel of the same name. ...
Promotional poster for All the Kings Men All the Kings Men (2006) is an adaptation of the 1946 Pulitzer Prize winning novel by Robert Penn Warren and a remake of the 1949 Academy Award-winning movie, All the Kings Men. As of December 2005, extended post-production...
Humpty Dumpty sits on a wall, prior to his fall. ...
The Novel
Robert Penn Warren's novel won the Pulitzer Prize in 1947. No prize was awarded in 1917. ...
1947 (MCMXLVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1947 calendar). ...
It portrays the dramatic political ascent and decline of Willie Stark (a.k.a. "the Boss"), a populist governor in the American South during the 1930s. The novel is narrated by Jack Burden, a political reporter who comes to work as Governor Stark's right-hand man. The trajectory of Stark's career is interwoven with Jack Burden's life story and philosophical reflections: "the story of Willie Stark and the story of Jack Burden are, in one sense, one story." (p. 157) Willie Stark is an opera in three acts and nine scenes by Carlisle Floyd to his own libretto, after the novel All the Kings Men by Robert Penn Warren. ...
Look up Populism in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...
Historic Southern United States. ...
The novel was an outgrowth of an earlier version of the story, a verse play entitled Proud Flesh. Verse drama is any drama written as verse to be spoken; another possible general term is poetic drama. ...
The version edited by Noel Polk (ISBN 01-5100-610-5) uses the name "Willie Talos" for the Boss as originally written in Penn Warren's manuscript, and is known as the "restored version" for using this name as well as printing several passages removed from the original edit.
Characters
Robert Penn Warren commemorative stamp, 2005 Image File history File links RobertPennWarren. ...
Willie Stark The central character of Willie Stark (Willie Talos as originally written by Robert Penn Warren), seems to have been partially inspired by the life of Huey P. Long, "the Kingfish," former governor of Louisiana and that state's U.S. senator in the mid-1930s. Huey Pierce Long (August 30, 1893–September 10, 1935), known as The Kingfish, was an American politician; he was governor of Louisiana (1928–1932), Senator (1932–1935) and a presidential hopeful before his assassination. ...
Willie Stark (often referred to as "the Boss"), undergoes a radical transformation from an idealistic lawyer and weak gubernatorial candidate into a charismatic and extraordinarily powerful Southern-state governor. In finding his way toward success in politics, Stark comes to embrace various forms of corruption in order to accomplish his vision and centralize enormous power within his office. His Machiavellian approach to politics earns him many enemies in the state legislature, but does not detract from his popular appeal among many of his constituents, who respond with enthusiasm to his fiery rhetorical style. For other uses, see Governor (disambiguation). ...
The word charisma (from the Greek word χάÏισμα (kharisma), gift or divine favor, from kharizesthai, to favor, from kharis, favor: see also charism) refers to a rare trait found in certain human personalities usually including extreme charm and a magnetic quality of personality and/or appearance along with innate and powerfully...
Detail of the portrait of Machiavelli, ca 1500, in the robes of a Florentine public official Niccolò Machiavelli (May 3, 1469—June 21, 1527) was an Italian political philosopher during the Renaissance. ...
Jack Burden Jack Burden is the novel's narrator, a former student of history, newspaper columnist, and personal aide to Governor Willie Stark.
His narrative is propelled in part by a fascination with the mystery of Stark's larger-than-life character, and equally by his struggle to discover some underlying principle to make sense of all that has happened.
In narrating the story, Jack commingles his own personal story with the political story of Governor Stark. His telling of these two stories side by side creates a striking contrast between the personal and the impersonal. While his wry, detached, often humorous tone suggests an attempt to stand apart from the other characters' passions and intrigues, the highly personal content of his narrative suggests an awareness that he cannot truthfully remove himself and his own history from the story of Willie Stark, because his own story has paralleled and helped shape the tragic outcome of Stark's story.
Jack's overall character development might be roughly described as a journey away from an amoral perspective on human history as a chain of uncontrollable events, toward a belief in the fundamental interconnectedness of all of history. In other words, he might be said to trace a path from refusal to acceptance of personal responsibility. On the other hand, one defining trait that remains a constant throughout Jack's development is a passion for discovering the truth of history. ("And all times are one time, and all those dead in the past never lived before our definition gives them life, and out of the shadow their eyes implore us. That is what all of us historical researchers believe. And we love truth." - p. 228)
Anne Stanton Anne is Jack Burden's former lover and the daughter of Willie Stark's political predecessor, Governor Stanton. Many of the novel's passages recounting Jack's life story revolve around memories of his relationship with Anne. Like many of Jack's friends, Anne disapproves of Willie Stark. However, in the wake of a devastating revelation regarding one of her father's moral lapses, she ends up sleeping with Stark, much to Jack's disgust.
Adam Stanton Adam is a highly successful doctor, Anne Stanton's brother, and Jack Burden's childhood friend. Jack comes to view Adam Stanton as the polar opposite of Governor Stark, calling Adam "the man of idea" and Stark "the man of fact." (p. 436) Elsewhere, he describes Adam's central motivation as a deep need to "do good." (p. 238) Governor Stark invites Adam to be director of his pet project, a new hospital and medical center. The position initially strikes Adam as repugnant because of his revulsion to Stark's politics, but Jack and Anne ultimately persuade him to accept the invitation, essentially by removing his moral high ground. Adam's sense of violation as a result of his entanglement with Governor Stark proves violently tragic when he is informed by Lieutenant Governor Tiny Duffy that Stark has been sleeping with his sister. His pride demolished, Adam finds the Governor at the Capitol building and shoots him point-blank. To the extent that Willie Stark's story may have been loosely based on real-life events, the inspiration behind Adam Stanton's character would have been Dr. Carl Weiss. Carl Austin Weiss (December 6, 1906 – September 8, 1935) was a gifted young Baton Rouge, Louisiana, physician who was the apparent assassin of U.S. Senator Huey Pierce Long, Jr. ...
Judge Irwin Judge Irwin is an elderly gentleman whom Jack has known since childhood, a man who is essentially a father-figure to him. Willie Stark assigns Jack the task of digging through Irwin's past to find something from the past with which Irwin can be blackmailed. Jack investigates thoroughly and finds what he is looking for: an incident many years ago when Judge Irwin took a bribe to dismiss a lawsuit against a fuel company, resulting in the personal destruction of a man named Mortimer Littlepaugh. Jack presents the incriminating evidence to Irwin, and before he has a chance to use it against him, Irwin commits suicide. Only at this point does Jack learn that Irwin was, in fact, his father.
Cass Mastern Cass Mastern is the subject of Jack Burden's "first excursion into the enchantments of the past," (p. 157) and the subject of the entire fourth chapter of the novel, related to the rest of the novel less by plot than by thematic connection. Jack's pursuit of a doctorate is cut short when he abandons his dissertation in its final stages. His research revolves around his study of the life of a 19th century collateral ancestor, Cass Mastern, a man of high moral standards and a student at Transylvania College in Kentucky (Robert Penn Warren's native state). Cass's story, as revealed through his journals and letters, is essentially about a single betrayal of a friend that seems to ripple endlessly outward with negative consequences for many people. In studying this fragment of Civil War-era history, Jack begins to suspect (but cannot yet bring himself to accept) the idea that every event has unforeseen and unknowable implications, and that all actions and all persons are connected to other actions and other persons. Jack suggests that one reason he is unable to complete his dissertation on Cass's life is that perhaps "he was afraid to understand for what might be understood there was a reproach to him." (p. 189) Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) (18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801-1900 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar. ...
Transylvania University is a private liberal arts college related by covenant to the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) located in Lexington, Kentucky, with approximately 1,100 students. ...
Official language(s) English[1] Capital Frankfort Largest city Louisville Area Ranked 37th - Total 40,444 sq mi (104,749 km²) - Width 140 miles (225 km) - Length 379 miles (610 km) - % water 1. ...
Combatants United States of America (Union) Confederate States of America (Confederacy) Commanders Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee Strength 2,200,000 1,064,000 Casualties 110,000 killed in action, 360,000 total dead, 275,200 wounded 93,000 killed in action, 258,000 total...
Themes/imagery A central motif in the novel is the "Great Twitch." When Jack Burden unexpectedly discovers that the love of his life, Anne Stanton, has been sleeping with Governor Willie Stark, he impulsively jumps in his car and drives to California to obtain some distance from the situation. Jack's description of his trip contains overt and indirect references to the notion of Manifest Destiny, which becomes somewhat ironic when he comes back from it believing in the "Great Twitch." This painting (circa 1872) by John Gast called American Progress is an allegorical representation of Manifest Destiny. ...
The "Great Twitch" is a particular brand of nihilism that Jack embraces during this journey westward: "all the words we speak meant nothing and there was only the pulse in the blood and the twitch of the nerve, like a dead frog's leg in the experiment when the electric current goes through." (p. 310) On his way back from California, Jack gives a ride to an old man who has an involuntary facial twitch. This image becomes for him the encapsulating metaphor for the idea that "all life is but the dark heave of blood and the twitch of the nerve." (p. 311) In other words, life is without meaning; everything is motivated by some inborn reflex action and nobody is responsible for their choices or even their own destiny. The emotional distance permitted by this revelation releases Jack from his own frustration stemming from the relationship between Anne Stanton and his boss, and allows him to return to circumstances which were previously unbearable. Nihilism (from the Latin nihil, nothing) is a philosophical position which argues that the world, especially past and current human existence, is without objective meaning, purpose, comprehensible truth, or essential value. ...
Subsequent events (including the tragic deaths of Governor Stark, his life-long friend Adam Stanton, and Judge Irwin, Jack's father) convince Jack that the revelation of the "Great Twitch" is an insufficient paradigm to explain what he has seen of history, for "he saw that though doomed [his friends] had nothing to do with any doom under the godhead of the Great Twitch. They were doomed, but they lived in the agony of will." (p. 436) Ultimately, he grows to accept some responsibility for his part in the destruction of his friends' lives.
The book also touches on Oedipal imagery and themes, as Jack discovers his father's true identity after having caused his death. The Oedipus complex is a concept developed by Sigmund Freud, who was inspired by Carl Jung (he described the concept and coined the term Complex), to explain the maturation of the infant through identification with the father and desire for the mother. ...
The theme of one's father's identity and its effects on one's own sense of identity is explored twice in the novel, through Adam and Anne's painful discovery that their father (the late Governor Stanton) once assisted in the cover-up of a bribery scandal, and subsequently through Jack's discovery that his biological father is Judge Irwin, not, as he previously believed, "the Scholarly Attorney." In each case, the discovery catalyzes an upheaval in the character's moral outlook.
Time is another of the novel's thematic fascinations. The idea that every moment in the past contains the seeds of the future is constantly explored through the novel's non-chronological narrative, which reveals character continuities and thematic connections across different time periods.
Movie and opera versions All the King's Men, a movie made based on Warren's novel, was released in 1949. The film won three Oscars that year: Best Picture, Best Actor (Broderick Crawford), and Best Supporting Actress (Mercedes McCambridge). The movie was also nominated for four more categories. In 2001 the United States Library of Congress deemed the film "culturally significant," and selected it for preservation in the National Film Registry. It is noted, however, for deviating significantly from the novel's storyline. All the Kings Men is a 1949 film based on the Robert Penn Warren novel of the same name. ...
1949 (MCMXLIX) was a common year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1949 calendar). ...
Academy Award The Academy Awards, popularly known as the Oscars, are the most prominent and most watched film awards ceremony in the world. ...
// The Academy Award for Best Motion Picture is one of the Academy Awards, awards given to people working in the motion picture industry by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which are voted on by others within the industry. ...
The Academy Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role is one of the awards given to actors working in the motion picture industry by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences; nominations are made by Academy members who are actors and actresses. ...
Crawford in Black Angel William Broderick Crawford (born December 9, 1911; died April 26, 1986) was an American actor. ...
The Academy Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role is one of the awards given to actresses working in the motion picture industry by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences; nominations are made by Academy members who are actors and actresses. ...
Mercedes Agnes Carlotta McCambridge (March 16, 1916 – March 2, 2004) was an Academy Award-winning American actress. ...
Year 2001 (MMI) was a common year starting on Monday (link displays the 2001 Gregorian calendar). ...
The Library of Congress is the de facto national library of the United States and the research arm of the United States Congress. ...
The National Film Registry is the registry of films selected by the United States National Film Preservation Board for preservation in the Library of Congress. ...
A new film version was produced in 2006. Writer/director Steven Zaillian has said it was his goal to more faithfully follow Warren's version of the story than the original film did. Promotional poster for All the Kings Men All the Kings Men (2006) is an adaptation of the 1946 Pulitzer Prize winning novel by Robert Penn Warren and a remake of the 1949 Academy Award-winning movie, All the Kings Men. As of December 2005, extended post-production...
Steven Zaillian (born on 30 January 1953 in Fresno, California, USA) is an American screenwriter, film director, editor and producer, of Armenian descent. ...
American composer Carlisle Floyd adapted the novel as a full-length grand opera entitled Willie Stark, commissioned and premiered by the Houston Grand Opera in 1981. Carlisle Floyd (born 1926 in Latta, South Carolina) is an American opera composer. ...
Willie Stark is an opera in three acts and nine scenes by Carlisle Floyd to his own libretto, after the novel All the Kings Men by Robert Penn Warren. ...
The Houston Grand Opera (HGO) is a Houston, Texas-based opera company. ...
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