In All the King's Men by Robert Penn Warren, three main characters, Jack Burden, Willie Stark and Adam Stanton, embark on a whirlwind journey of self-discovery that leads to tragedy for some and optimistic enlightenment for others. Over the course of the novel, each learns something different about themselves and faces realizations about their moral standing and role in the world. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Willie Stark, powerful politician and Jack's employer, is sadly enlightened right before his death. For most of the book, Willie is both politically and personally corrupt, running the state through manipulation, and having many extramarital affairs. As governor, Willie treats people with kindness as long as people listen to his opinions and support him. However, Willie is equally committed to punishing his enemies. A firm believer in the principle that "the ends justify the means," Willie resorts to blackmail and manipulation to do what he believes is best for the state and its administration. Willie tries to persuade the moral Adam Stanton that goodness is not simply "inherited". "You've got to make it, Doc, if you want it. And you've got to make it through malice...And do you know why? Because there's nothing else to make it out of" (367). Stark is trying to justify his bad actions because the ending is good. Willie supports this philosophy and continues to manipulate people until his son Tom becomes paralyzed during a football game. For the first time in the book, Willie is unable to control the situation and is weaker. Willie does everything he can to pretend that the situation is at hand, continually saying that Tom will be fine and declaring his son's persistence in the hospital. Eventually, when Willie manages to control some of the situation, such as when he decides to name the hospital after Tom, he jumps at the chance. He simply doesn't know how to behave when he can't force circumstances to conform to his desires. After Tom's injury, Willie begins to move on by breaking off his relationship with Anne and trying to reconcile with Lucy. He even wants to rid his office of corruption, canceling a crooked construction contract and telling Tiny Duffy and Jack that things would be done differently from now on. Unfortunately, Adam Stanton, who is distraught after learning that his sister and Willie were having an affair, shoots Willie that same day. Dying in a hospital bed a few days later, Willie tells Jack "if it (the shooting of Adam) hadn't happened, maybe it would have been different, even now" (573). Adam Stanton, a skilled surgeon and Jack's closest childhood friend, is the most moral of the three characters and possesses high integrity and sensitivity. His high principles and desire to do good are easily disturbed by people he considers unscrupulous or of a lower standard of character. Therefore, Adam naturally despises Willie Stark. When Willie offers Adam a position as director of the new hospital, Adam only accepts because he knows it is a promising opportunity to help as many people as possible, his ultimate goal. From this point on, Adam receives blow after blow to his virtue until his morality shatters and he collapses. The first blow comes when Jack exposes the dishonesty and corruption of Adam's late father, a former governor whom Adam greatly revered as a man of honor. Adam doesn't take the news well, as his delicate virtuous vision is starting to crack. After abribery attempt involving the hospital and the discovery of Willie's affair with his sister Anne, Adam is devastated. He believes he only got the running of the hospital because he was the brother of Willie's lover. This is the kind of corruption Adam can't tolerate, and the fact that it involves both him and his sister pushes him over the edge. His ego as well as his sensitive spirit is crushed. In desperation, he kills Willie and dies himself when Willie's friend Sugar-Boy shoots him. Tragically, what Adam learns about himself is not positive; his enlightenment is only the realization that he simply cannot stand the corrupt and darker aspects of life. Jack Burden, narrator and protagonist of the novel, is the political right-hand man of Southern Governor Willie Stark. He lacks the initiative and enthusiasm to pursue his goals and simply acts like a puppet, conforming to the people around him and whatever life throws at him. For example, after months of working on a biographical study of his grandmother's brother, Cass Mastern, he stops working and has no desire to finish it. Likewise, when he loses his job, he doesn't try to look for another one, simply because he doesn't feel like it, and fills his empty days with sleep and leisure. The future and responsibility mean nothing to Jack. While this doesn't bother him, his lack of initiative bothers his partner and love interest Anne Stanton. Once she brings it to his attention, he thinks about it a bit in his mind, but takes no action, and Anne leaves after their summer fling. The majority of the novel follows Jack in his work for Willie, which involves digging up the land. political enemies and blackmail. Never allowing himself to be emotionally involved in his work, Jack remains detached from any sense of responsibility. This detachment carries over into Jack's personal life, where he decides that everything that happens is the result of the whims of nature and not the actions of a specific person. By adopting this theory, called the "Great Twitch" (events are convulsive, random and uncontrollable), Jack thus frees himself from guilt and responsibility for his actions. Jack Burden transforms from a callous man to a caring individual only after the death of his close friend and mentor, Judge Irwin. In one of Willie's blackmail activities, Jack discovers that Irwin had accepted a bribe because he needed money to save his property. After Jack attempts to blackmail the judge with this information, Irwin shoots himself. Later, Jack discovers that Judge Irwin was actually his father and Jack is the sole heir to the estate. After carefully considering the turn of events, Jack realizes with disbelief how undeniably logical the situation was. Judge Irwin took the bribe to save the estate, then fathered Jack, who tried to blackmail his father with information about the bribe, which caused Judge Irwin to commit suicide, which led to Jack inheriting the estate; if Judge Irwin had not accepted the bribe, Jack would have had nothing to inherit, and if Jack had not attempted to blackmail Judge Irwin, the judge would not have killed himself, and Jack would not have inherited the property when he did. This incident proves to Jack that the Great Contraction theory must be wrong and that people are indeed responsible for the actions they take. His ability to escape the idea of ​​responsibility is destroyed by this situation. Jack is genuinely sorry for his role in the death and cries, his first sincere emotional reaction. Another death has much to do with Jack's inner enlightenment, that of Adam Stanton's assassination of Willie Stark. When Jack finds out that Tiny has.