Examples Of Populism In All The Kings Men

The populism movement enforced mainly ideals that we see today in modern day politics like the Washington outsider, the Common-man, and most importantly the strong emphasis on the self-made man. In Robert Penn Warren’s book, All the Kings Men, reoccurring images like the refusal of drinks builds this idea that power and a bit of luck help build the image of the self-made man; however, the idea of moving out west is used as an escape from the self-made man. Those who visit or move to California in the book use it as escape from the busy and stressful life of the east or they move there in hopes find a job, but normally those who move west ultimately fail. Using passages from All the King’s Men we can see how the attempt of escaping the self-made

Chapter six opens with Jack driving out west he states that “For West is where we all plan to go someday. It is where you go when the land gives out and the old-field pines encroach. It is where you go when you get a letter saying: flee, all is discovered… It is where you go to grow up with the country. It is where you go to spend your old age. Or it is where you just go.” (pg. 376-377) This passage shows how many go to the west for an escape from their lives. It hints that many go out west because they have given up on their lives and they want to start a new. It builds this idea that the west is still the new frontier, still waiting for people to flock and discover whatever wonders await from them. The passage ends with “it is where you just go”, hinting that many people just leave for the west just simply because they want to. Many who move out west have no real motive, they just want to escape whatever problems lie in the east. There is no real objective that anyone wants to achieve when they escape to the west, they just want to start fresh. This contrasts the idea of the self-made man. Throughout the book the reader sees how something as simple as refusing a drink is in reality a major power move, and that those who strive for power will achieve the self-made man ideal. Everything has a motive if a person wants to be successful, this is why those who move west ultimately

In her letter she wrote that “…I am getting out of here. I don’t mean just getting out of this cross between an old folks’ home and a booby-hatch, but out of this town and out of this state, I can’t stand it round here and I’m pulling out. I’ll be gone a long way and I’ll be gone a long time and maybe somewhere the climate is better.” (pg.578). Shortly after this letter the reader finds out that Mrs. Tallos paid Sadie several thousand dollars to move out to California, in return she raised her child. Earlier in the book Jack meets a man who recently came back from California and tells him that it’s like any other place and that no one can find a job. With this the reader can assume that Sadie will have a similar fate to that man, she won’t be able to find a job or a nice place to live and she will have to ask Mrs. Tallos for even more money. This relates back to how moving out west for escaping reality will always fail. Sadie is simply being paid to live out there. This goes against the ideal of the self-made man. She probably won’t try to make a living for herself out in California and she simply does not have the luck that successful self-made men tend to have either. Furthermore her reason for moving is to run away from her problems and to cheat the self-made man. Like I said earlier the book hints that Sadie will continue to ask for more money from Lucy, simply because she won’t be