I am going to dedicate this particular blog to my personal
feelings on the ending of All the King’s Men. After reading the tragic
beginning of the end when Judge Irwin dies I sort of took a sigh of relief because
I thought that the Judge’s death would be the central focus on the ending and
essentially the rest of the characters would solve their problems and we would
all move on with our lives. Call me a sucker for a fairy tale but that’s what I
believed. So I keep reading and I find out the Adam Stanton dies. And then that
Willie Stark dies. And then that Tom Stark dies. Needless to say, I was not
very happy at all. However, once I allowed myself to get over the initial shock
that the majority of the main characters were killed off in the final chapter, I
was able to see that maybe the novel did not in fact have a tragic ending but a
happy one as well. Once Jack learns of his mother’s love for Judge Irwin and
how Judge Irwin was actually Jack’s father, there was a sense of peace.
Throughout the entirety of the novel Jack had been battling the need to realize
where he came from and how that could integrate into his current life. Now that
he knows of his true beginnings and from whom he originated from, it is as if
he is drawing a full circle with his life. The theme of “past vs present” truly
must be focused on as a huge part of the ending, or it could perhaps be
considered a tragedy. However once one realizes the hope of the future once
knowledge of the past is gained, it could truly be deemed a happy ending.
No comments:
Post a Comment