Kelly Blog One

Politics and power are a strong part of what the South is in Robert Penn Warren's "All The Kings Men." Willie Talos, "The Boss," is depicted as a man with clear power early on. He enters a drug store and orders a soda, and "by that time folks were packed outside the door solid to the middle of the street. Faces were pressed up against the screen door, the way you do when you try to see through a screen into a dim room. Outside, they kept yelling, "Speech, Willie, speech!""(p11) Talos makes a speech about how he's not going to make a speech because he is taking the day of politics to visit his father. The Boss and his posse cruise over to Talos fathers house to take pictures and eat dinner, then suddenly political matter comes up and despite the day off politics Talos, along with Sugar- Boy and the narrator, Jack Burden, head over to Burden's Landing to take care of some business. The matter revolves around a Judge and who is making the decisions and who holds the power of the area. Talos talks with Jack about how he is the Governor and how he will be the President, saying "When I'm the President I'm gonna take you with me. I'm gonna keep you and Sugar- Boy right in the White House so I can have you all handy."(p57) The talk with Judge Irwin in Burden's Landing exemplifies the desire and the importance of power in a time and place like the setting of "All The Kings Men," as neither men give ground and both sarcastically address each other, knowing the importance and reason of the conversation. After the debate the importance of power continues to grow as The Boss orders Burden to find information on Judge Irwin, and to "make it stick." (p72) Politics and power tie closely together in this novel, they climb and fall together and surely have the power to change the outcome.