All the King's Men Study Guide

All the King's Men Summary

All the King's Men is narrated by Jack Burden, a young political muckraker for Willie Stark, governor of an unnamed Southern state in the 1930s. At its base, the novel is about Willie's rise to prominence and metamorphosis from a humble country lawyer to a fiery demogogue who uses corrupt means in order to do good for the poor masses of his state. It is also the complex story of Willie's downfall and the inextricable personal tale of Jack as the latter comes to realize his responsibility for the world around him.

The basic events of the novel are related with several flashback episodes, and all but the end of the last chapter is in the past tense, with the narrative being delivered from the perspective of Jack a few years after these events…

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Posted By linda c #132713 at Apr 01, 2010 4:10 PM

Creative ideas

I have written my senior paper on All the King's Men, and now I have to do a "creative" project on it, such as a scrapbook. Does anyone have any ideas for how I could do that?

All the King's Men | Answers: 2

Posted By christina g #61820 at Jul 12, 2008 9:49 PM

personal responsibility in all the king's men

I am trying to figure out if the book is for or against the belief that personal responsibility is a good thing. Most of it uses the "great twitch" idea to indicate that personal responsibility is not true.

All the King's Men | Answers: 1

Posted By erika f #202687 at Sep 27, 2011 9:03 PM

As willie Stark campaigns to become governor, how is his oppinion of government concur with Rousseau's view?

What does Rousseau's view of government and Willie's view have in common?

All the King's Men | Answers: 1