All the Kings Men: Historys Importance :: All the Kings Men Essays

All the Kings Men Historys Importance     Throughout All the Kings Men, history plays an distinguished role in the motivations and lives of all the characters. Historys importance is most noticeable, not surprisingly, in the story main characters - Willie dangerous and Jack Burden - whose lives focus on and, in some cases, depend upon history and how they relate themselves to it. While Willie Stark views history as a tool with which to gentlemans gentlemanipulate people for his feature ends, an attitude resulting in his own destruction, Jack Burdens view of history changes oer time and eventually allows him to accept his relationship to the outgoing and, therefore, present. Since each man has such a differing view it is no wonder that history becomes cardinal to each in different steerings. Willie Stark must support his total empire in a world of enemies and corruption, to do this he relies on the past to provide him with the foundation.   &q uotDirts a funny thing," the Boss said. "Come to see of it, there aint a thing but tinkers dam on this immortals potassium globe except whats under water, and thats dirt too. Its dirt makes the grass grow. A diamond aint a thing in the world but a piece of dirt that got awful hot. God-a-Mighty picked up a handful of dirt and blew on it and made you and me and George Washington and mankind blessed in stave and apprehension. It all depends on what you do with the dirt."1 In this case, Stark is referring to the past as dirt - something to be handlingd in many ways. The way he chooses to use it of course is as blackmail "Then he would lean suddenly forward, at the man, and say, not slow and easy now, God damn you, do you know what I can do to you? And he could too. For he had the goods."2 Thus history is important to Stark as the device by which he maintains power.   Both Stark and Burden use history differently according to the way it figure s into their lives. To Stark, ultimate power being paramount, history is a thing to be used in the economic consumption of others to