In pursuit of self-knowledge : a comparison of the novel and film of All The King's Men

The purpose of this thesis is to compare the novel and the film adaptation of All the King's Men, in order to understand and analyze the differences in interpretation of the authors of each work.

From the premise that written literature and film have inherent qualities which clearly distinguish one from the other, the first task of the paper, in Chapter 1, is to discuss both the similarities and differences between film and written literature, noting particularly the constraints placed on each artist, filmmaker and novelist.

Following the analysis of theory in Chapter 1, Chapter 2 explores briefly the background of novelist Robert Penn Warren, and then concentrates on an in-depth study of the novel of All the King's Men itself, pointing out chiefly how the novel's structure, theme, and narrative force the reader to see Jack Burden and not Willie Stark as the main focus of the story. This conclusion is corroborated by critics ranging from Cleanth Brooks to Louis Rubin, and finally by Warren himself.

In a similar manner, Chapter 3 discusses the background and political ideology of the film's screenwriter and director, Robert Rossen, and then goes on to elaborate on how Rossen's background and beliefs caused him to structure his film around Willie Stark, portraying Stark as an American Fascist dictator. Repeated viewings of the film, along with research into the political climate of Hollywood in the 1930's and 1940's, emphasize the fact that Rossen's narrative, structure, and cinematic style all lend to his vivid depiction of Willie Stark as a purely evil, power-hungry politician, while subordinating Jack Burden to the role of a political hatchet man.

Finally, Chapter 4, while re-emphasizing the separateness of the works, also evaluates the two, concluding that although each writer, Warren and Rossen, accomplished his objective in his work, Warren is the more successful of the two, because, through his character Jack Burden, who has come to terms with the reality of his own heritage, Warren causes us not only to evaluate and understand Burden's life, but also to evaluate and at least attempt to understand our own lives. Thus, self-knowledge, which is missing in Rossen's work, is the key to Warren's work, because it gives us an understanding of the past which helps us learn how to live in the present and future. And the essential component of this knowledge is the fact that no one is purely good or evil, that both of these qualities exist, to a degree, within each individual.