Jack Burden, the chronicler and one of the two possible protagonists of Robert Penn Warren's All the King's Men, is anything but a static narrator. His character is probably even more dynamic than that of Willie Stark, the novel's man of the moment. Through the adventures and misadventures that Jack encounters on life's fickle path, he eventually destroys his original self, tries on many vaguely different personalities, and ultimately becomes an entirely altered entity. Although many factors contribute to the destruction of Mr. Burden's main character and the formation of his ultimate personality, the departure of his father when he was very young, his love affair with Anne Stanton, the discovery of evidence of Judge Irwin's wrongdoing, the Judge's suicide and the revelation that he is Jack's father, and the deaths of Willie Stark and Adam Stanton are the five monumental events that have the greatest effect on his personality. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Although he does not realize it at the time, Jack's life is first significantly impacted by an episode that occurs when he is a boy of six. Ellis Burden, the man Jack calls "the learned lawyer" and believes to be his father for much of the novel, abandons Jack and his mother for the life of a poor street corner evangelist. Jack only discovered the reason for this apparent abandonment a few years later. Until he discovers Ellis' motivation for fleeing, Jack interprets his departure from the perspective of the small child he is at the time the episode occurs. He feels rejected, angry and doesn't understand why a man rejected him and his infatuated mother. After this incident, Jack carries with him a sense of inadequacy and failing that shapes his state of mind throughout adolescence and adulthood. Jack's denial of responsibility throughout part of the novel is also rooted in this event, as is his lack of understanding of human motivation. Jack assumes that his "father" simply left and does not consider the possibility that Jack's mother gave him a reason to leave. Visiting Ellis, believing him to be his father, adult Jack is ashamed, even though Ellis helps others and seems happy with his life. Jack thinks Ellis is "weak." According to Jack, he did not inherit the genes necessary to succeed; it is futile for him to work hard to achieve any goal, and he is doomed to drift indefinitely through life. Jack references his own lack of ambition throughout the novel, which results from his observations of where ambition to succeed took his father: the street corner. Jack has no hopes or dreams, partly because he has no father he could strive to emulate. Another notable event in Jack's life was the romantic relationship he shared with Anne Stanton in their youth. Anne, Jack's first love, changes him by allowing him to feel emotions he has never known before. Loving a parent or parental figure and being in love with a peer are distinct and very different emotions for him. The difference between these feelings is particularly stark because Jack had no love from his peers and little normal parental love until he and Anne fell in love. Jack's feelings for Anne are some of the purest and most honest feelings he expresses throughout the story. Jack's descriptions of Anne and their times together illustrate true love, rather than lust or infatuation. All images of Anne and their romance are idealized; however, and the indistinct endingand inconclusive of their youthful relationship creates a lot of cynicism in Jack's character. His image of a perfect summer that drags on forever is shattered, as is his sense of being in a perfect relationship. Jack learns that there is no such thing as a perfect relationship, nor a perfect woman, and allows this knowledge to destroy his already little idealism completely. As he and Anne fall in love, Jack becomes even more emotionally withdrawn and eventually resorts to a relationship with Lois based solely on physical attraction. Jack's personality is further transformed when he finds evidence that Judge Monty Irwin, his father figure after Ellis left, took a bribe to save his home, property and position. When initially confronted by Willie to "dig up some dirt" on the judge, Jack is convinced he won't find anything. Adoring the older man for much of his life, Jack refuses to believe that Irwin is anything but white until Irwin confesses to all the scandal Jack uncovers. After his extensive research and this confirmation, Jack is amazed, disappointed and shocked. Jack is now disappointed in the second man he admires. This event leaves Jack with even less trust in people than he initially had. If his father and Judge Irwin could both be subject to such a disappointing failure, Jack is surely doomed. Almost immediately after his revelation about Judge Irwin, Jack experiences another momentous event. After reflecting on the position he found himself in following the discovery of his past sins, Judge Irwin commits suicide. In a state of horror and disbelief, Jack's mother reveals that Judge Irwin is Jack's father. Jack has been bombarded by two massive facts at once, and he must digest this new information as it pours into his character, changing him permanently and irrevocably. He cries, showing the most frank emotion since his love affair with Anne. Knowing that Judge Irwin would rather commit suicide than sell his power, Jack appreciates a new respect for human responsibility. Judge Irwin takes such responsibility for his actions that he sacrifices his own life. Jack has no choice but to reject his "Great Twitch" theory in the phenomenal irony of the situation: Judge Irwin accepts a bribe to save the estate that Jack inadvertently inherits by revealing the pot -of wine. As much as he wishes, Jack can no longer believe that life simply happens to men. Thanks to Judge Irwin's suicide, Jack also learns that his mother is capable of love. She truly loved Judge Irwin, and that love gave birth to Jack. Finally, Jack is somewhat relieved to know that he has a strong father rather than the weak "learned lawyer", but he once again remembers the tender moments with Ellis and remains unclear about his feelings regarding his fatherhood. Needless to say, Jack's perception of life changes dramatically the moment he discovers that he drove his father to suicide. When Willie Stark and Adam Stanton are shot essentially simultaneously, the last significant change in Jack's character occurs. Used to Willie being in control of every situation, Jack is somewhat shocked when Governor Stark gets shot in a cold-blooded situation that even "the boss" can't control. Most importantly, Jack must accept his own responsibility, particularly his role in Willie's eventual death. If he had not begun researching the Judge, the chain of ironic and tragic events that unfold in the final chapters of All the King's Men would never have been set in motion. This cements the concept that Jack begins to develop after Irwin's suicide: the theory that men."