All the King's Men Plot Summary

All the King's Men Overview

Set in the Deep South, All the King's Men examines the complex web of influence that members of a closed society have on one another. Most of Warren's large cast of characters are corrupt in some way. Their corruption stems from an indignation traced back to the Civil War—a war fought by idealistic young gallants humiliated less by losing the war than by watching their land being plundered during Reconstruction.

Warren's corrupt political boss, Willie Stark, and others of his kind have fallen into the worst depravity of not knowing right from wrong.

Warren analyzes the myth that social and religious ghosts haunt the landscape of the devastated Civil War South—the wrath of a Calvinistic God dominates the landscape, demanding suffering and repentance for sins committed by the "fathers." Too proud to repent, Warren's characters must learn their lesson over and over. Their defiance is also...
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