All The Kings Men Essay Example For Students

All The Kings Men Essay The amount of change people go through in their lives is remarkable. One day, you can be a devious criminal, while the next you could turn a new leaf and become a saint. The change that Jack goes through in All the Kings Men, is comparable to that of the patient who receives a lobotomy. Although Jack undergoes no physical change, the events he witnesses rock his personality, and transforms him into an entirely new man. His metamorphosis from the beginning of the story to the end has as many parallels to the faceless patients operation as it does differences. Besides the obvious fact that no one ever operated on Jack, there are still many differences between him and the lobotomy patient. The most significant difference, however, lies in the reason for both mens change. Adam remarks that the man will have a completely new personality, and when Jack brings up the concept of baptism, Adam adds that a baptismal is different because it does not give you a new personality, it merely gives y ou a new set of values to exercise your personality in. Here is where Jack and the patient differs. Jack is the complete opposite. While the man will have a new personality, Jack will go on to have the same personality, but exercise it in a different set of values. The man the reader comes to know in the final pages of the novel is still recognizable as Jack. In these final pages, Jack notes that Hugh Miller will get back into politics, and that Jack himself will be along to hold his coat. One will recall Miller as the Attorney General who resigned to keep his hands from getting dirty. This is a clear example of Jacks new set of values. Jack will keep doing what he has done for so many years -working in politics because his personality has not changed. Nevertheless, his new set of values will not allow him to work for someone who is amoral any longer. Jack did undergo a cure. He was lost in the beginning and the middle of the novel, but with the belief in the theory of the spider web, and his desertion of the great sleep and great twitch, he was found. Through the deaths of all that were close to him, he found himself. By finding the truth in himself, Jack was able to forget the great twitch and the great sleep. By acknowledging the spider web theory, Jack was able to view the world in a better and a more true way. Like the schizophrenic patient, Jacks mind was obscured. It was obscured because he had the blame evading ideologies of the great twitch. Now he is cured because he deserted the idea of the great twitch and accepted that a person must take responsibility for his own actions. Throughout the novel, Jack evaded responsibility. To avoid responsibility, he went into the great sleep, or resorted to theories such as the great twitch. At the end of the novel, Jack was able to understand the Cass Mastern story. He was able to un derstand it because now he accepted responsibility. The story of Cass Mastern was that of responsibility. Cass felt responsible for the death of Duncan trice, therefore wanted to be responsible for Phepe, and the people around him. In order to understand that story, Jack had to accept responsibility, not run away from it. Jack had to find himself to be secure enough to accept that responsibility. In the end, Jack is cured because he has found himself, and is able to understand the story of Cass Mastern and responsibility. It is important to observe that Jack has a schizophrenic view of the world. This indicates the scope of Jacks change not many people go through a conversion that can be so adequately compared to a lobotomy. The similarities between Jack and the patient represent the extent of Jacks transformation. Jack does go from one personality to an entirely new one, with a philosophical change of the way he views the world. The result is a tone of hope. In the final words of the novel: If there is hope for (Jack), then there is hope for everyone. Hope that people can change not by surgery, or seeing people live and die, but by witnessing the story and the life of one Jack Burden. .u25afb35dd4c93f4bf9d90eec24fd24c1 , .u25afb35dd4c93f4bf9d90eec24fd24c1 .postImageUrl , .u25afb35dd4c93f4bf9d90eec24fd24c1 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u25afb35dd4c93f4bf9d90eec24fd24c1 , .u25afb35dd4c93f4bf9d90eec24fd24c1:hover , .u25afb35dd4c93f4bf9d90eec24fd24c1:visited , .u25afb35dd4c93f4bf9d90eec24fd24c1:active { border:0!important; } .u25afb35dd4c93f4bf9d90eec24fd24c1 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u25afb35dd4c93f4bf9d90eec24fd24c1 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u25afb35dd4c93f4bf9d90eec24fd24c1:active , .u25afb35dd4c93f4bf9d90eec24fd24c1:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u25afb35dd4c93f4bf9d90eec24fd24c1 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u25afb35dd4c93f4bf9d90eec24fd24c1 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u25afb35dd4c93f4bf9d90eec24fd24c1 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u25afb35dd4c93f4bf9d90eec24fd24c1 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u25afb35dd4c93f4bf9d90eec24fd24c1:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u25afb35dd4c93f4bf9d90eec24fd24c1 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u25afb35dd4c93f4bf9d90eec24fd24c1 .u25afb35dd4c93f4bf9d90eec24fd24c1-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u25afb35dd4c93f4bf9d90eec24fd24c1:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Russian Romantic Music and Tchaikovsky EssayWords/ Pages : 947 / 24