Jack Burden, narrator of All the King’s Men by Robert Penn Warren, takes a very pessimistic view of the world as he recounts the story of his time working for Louisiana politician Willie Talos, reporting the series of events through various flashbacks in the first chapter of the book. Burden’s pessimism translates into both an detached attitude to the things occurring around him and a collection of intense cynical descriptions. Jack Burden describes his work for Willie Talos and his habit of writing in a notebook when “the Boss”, as Talos is called, gave him directions. Burden related how he didn’t get rid of any of the notebooks after they were filled, because “a man’s got to carry something besides a corroded liver with him out of that dark backward and abysm of time” (30-31). This statement clearly illustrates Burden’s view of life. His description of “a corroded liver” shows how he has a tendency to focus on negative things, as does his portrayal of life itself as a “dark backward abysm of time”. While these descriptions are very fatalistic, Burden is using vivid details, but at other times, he becomes completely dispassionate. After arriving at the Boss’s father’s home, Jack goes out to the fence in the field behind the house and contemplates what the Boss’s family and employees would do that night. Soon he comes to the realization that he “didn’t give a damn what they did” (43). He comes to similar conclusions throughout the story, having no interest in the actions and intentions of the people around him. Even with his disinterest, Burden retells his story with striking descriptions and fascinating details.
I agree completely with your analysis of Jack's pessimism about life and I think that part of the reason that he's so pessimistic is that his job makes him see the dark side of human nature. He hates his work, he hates the people that he works for, and he wishes he could get out of it but he can't. "And the Boss laughed and I could have slapped his God-damned face. I could have walked right out and left the two of them there, alone in that cheese-smelling room together till hell froze over and just kept on walking. But I didn't, and perhaps it was just as well, for maybe you cannot over really walk away from the things you want most to walk away from." (p64). That's where his pessimism comes from, I think.
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