Supawit #3

Characters in All the Kings Men from good to bad:

Males

Adam Stanton: So far in the novel, Adam has not done anything wrong. He is a humble, honest and kind spirit who looks out for others. He uses his medical education to help people in need- even going as far as helping people in his own home for those who cannot afford it. Though he does not approve of the Boss' administration, (perfectly understandable since it is not exactly the most ethical at times) Adam puts aside his moral skepticism of Willie to become the director of the hospital that is yet to come. Adam has also been a devoted brother and friend to both his sister Anne and Jack Burden. He did not question why Jack was asking about Judge Irwin's past, that is until Anne brings it up to his attention. After Jack tells Adam, he is yet the criticize the judge as he says, "What the hell if Talos knows about the Judge being Broke. It was more than twenty years ago. And there's no law against being broke" (296). Adam always seems to see the best in people that he loves, without questioning his belief(s) in any way.

George: George gives off the innocence of a young child that other male adult characters do not have. He and his wife had worked in the circus prior to meeting the Scholarly Attorney. Unfortunately, the death of his wife (who fell after the rope holding her broke) traumatized him forever; making him unable to "bear high places" (279). This also caused him to have nightmares about falling which made him "wet his bed like a child" (279). This tragedy brought him back to an infant like state of mind, where he is not fully developed and unable to overcome this ongoing fear of his. This man really was an Unfortunate: a good person, but unable to take care of himself after the accident that occurred.

Scholarly Attorney: Though we did not know of this dark past the scholarly attorney had at this part of the novel, his kind actions towards unfortunates (George in particular) show that he did become a morally good person, with religion being a large aspect of his life. The way he treats George almost feels like he is George's grandfather; patient, careful, caring and most of all altruistic. The Scholarly Attorney devotes a large portion of his life taking care of Unfortunates, knowing that they are generally good people but need some extra help. After he accidentally speaks too loudly about George's situation, resulting in George "weeping silently" (280), he "set the bowl on the floor, and with one hand still holding the spoon to George's mouth, with the other he patted George on the back soothingly, all while clucking with that distraught, hen-like, maternal little noise" (280). From various actions like these, we can see that he really does care for George and other people. He goes far out of his way to make sure George is okay before himself, even when he is getting older and less mobile. Another instance of his good morals is when Jack asks about the Judge's past. Knowing that Jack will use this information corruptly, the Scholarly Attorney rejects telling Jack anything about the past.

Cass Mastern: The long term affair between Cass and Annabelle Trice causes a rippling effect for the events soon to come. Cass is horrified after finding out that Annabelle had sold Phebe. Cass goes through great effort to look for Phebe and bring her back to be reunited with her husband who was a slave on a nearby plantation. For Cass, finding Phebe seems to be his self redemption in his wrong doings. He is unable to find her, which results in his change from being a plantation owner to an abolitionist. Though Mastern's affair was very wrong, he did try to make up for his actions by freeing his slaves, joining the war, and becoming a very religious man. This is very similar to the Scholarly Attorney, as they both try to find redemption from their dark past.

Tiny Duffy: Tiny Duffy is a power hungry, selfish, and sneaky man who represents the world of corruption in politics. From the start, he was in a cunning scheme with Sadie Burke, secretly working with Joe Harrison and using Willie to split the votes in the country side. Throughout the novel, we never see any positive actions that are looking out for anyone but Tiny Duffy himself. When talking about the six million dollars being put into the hospital, Tiny Duffy is, "lying back in the chair, eyes dreamily on the coffered ceiling, head wreathed in the baby-blue smoke from the cigarette, murmuring dreamily, "Six million bucks"(299). This is a direct example of Tiny Duffy's selfishness; not caring about the benefits of the hospital himself, instead the large sum of money involved.

Females

Phebe: Annabelle sold Phebe solely from her own paranoia and shame; being quick to assume that Phebe would tell the other slaves about the affair, who would also give her "the look" Phebe gave her after she found Mr. Trice's ring. This poor woman was not only destined to become a sex slave after being sold, but was also separated from her husband. Phebe did not deserved the harsh punishment she received. Finding out about the affair was merely an accident, and could have happened with anybody who found the ring.  Overall, Phebe seemed to be a good person from what was told about her in the novel who just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Lucy Talos: Lucy is a caring, thoughtful mother and wife to the Talos Family. She continues to stand by Willie after his multiple affairs and his alcoholism. Lucy stays taking care of their child and their home while Willie is gone for most of the time. Lucy helps keep Willie in check, pushing him to do what is best for the people and having him cut down on his alcohol consumption. Without Lucy, the Boss would most likely fall into corruption more easily and have trouble raising their kid. It seems that Lucy stays to keep the family together mostly for their kids sake, and her strong love for Willie,which helps him succeed.

Annabelle Trice: Annabelle first comes off as a warm and friendly person, but later on we see her true selfish nature. After Mr. Trice finds out about the affair, he takes off his wedding ring and kills himself. Annabelle acts on this by selling Phebe, who is the only slave/person that knows about the affair besides Cass. Her paranoia and shame are the root cause this action, however it is in no way justifiable to send Phebe away to become a sex slave and separate her from her loving husband. It is also implied that Phebe was never able to even say goodbye to anyone, including her husband, before she left since it was not included in the novel. Annabelle was never certain that she definitely knew of this affair, and was quick to assume that Phebe would tell everyone about it.  It is shocking how someone could act so selfishly on a matter that may not have been an issue in the first place. There were many alternative paths that Annabelle Trice could have taken that would not have resulted in such a negative outcome. She never took the time to think that it may have been better having her slave find out, who was devoted and loyal to her rather than someone who would use this information negatively, which ultimately only adds to her selfish nature.