All the Kings Men Discussion

In Robert Penn Warren's novel All the King's Men, I noticed that as people were trying to become more knowledgeable, they were really portraying their ignorance. Willie Stark studied very hard to become a lawyer and even received the advice of an old lawyer. He spent many hours studying for the bar exam, but when he took the exam he almost started laughing due to the ease of the test. Also, Willie Stark thought that a common negro laborer without much education could pass the exam. Willie Stark's decision to gain enough knowledge to pass the bar exam really demonstrated his ignorance, because he had no idea that the bar exam was so easy that he could have passed it without studying for it. Furthermore, Willie Stark's effort to become a knowledgeable governor really showed his ignorance, because Joe Harrison's men wanted him to run to spilt the votes. By trying to become a governor Willie Stark showed that he was very ignorant in the ways of politics, because he had no idea that Joe Harrison's men were only using Willie Stark for their own purposes and knew that he had no chance at being elected governor of the state.

Throughout Robert Penn Warren's novel All the King's Men, Willie Stark's actions often made the reader question whether he is a good person or a corrupt man. I think that Wille Stark was a good person that became a corrupt man. Willie Stark was originally a good person, which was seen when Willie Stark tried to change the construction company for the school's construction to save costs and to prevent nepotism. Furthermore, Willie Stark truly cared about the common person at the start of his politacl amnbitions, but he was eventually corrupted and lost his kind-hearted intentions. Once Willie Stark had gotten elected as governor, he started trying to "find dirt" on people and had started cheating on his wife without other women. He started blackmailing other politicians to get his way with people and made them conform to his ideas and goals. Willie Stark prevented his own impeachment by insuring that all of his opponents would do as he said through the use of blackmail. Even the people that tried to impeach Willie Stark were truly amazed by his actions. Also, Willie Stark was a unfaithful man and cheated on his wife Lucy with Sadie Burke. All of these corrupt actions turned Willie Stark from an honest kind-hearted man into a corrupt and cruel guy.