All the Kings Men (Willie Stark)

A common theme throughout the novel was how Willie Stark seemed to let others control him and never stand up for himself. It all started when Willie worked countless hours studying and trying to learn how to be a lawyer. Once he finally reached his goal in becoming a lawyer he let the people in town with all the power push him around. The men judged Willie as someone they would just be able to use as their puppet to do whatever they wanted him to do. When Willie decided to take a stand he was then run out of town. Once the people find out of the disaster at the school during a fire drill they realize that Willie was right. At this point i feel like Willie is finally his own man and will be able to live on top. While this may seem to be the case it is quickly realized that once again the men with all the power are using Willie in order for their own gains. It may upper as if Willie has it together because he is running for mayor but one thing that Willie fails to realize is that he is being used for one reason and that is so that he can split the vote allowing another candidate to win. Willie is once again used and discarded at the end. Up to this point in the novel Willie could be described as a push over and a man who is ignorant and abused due to not being able to stand up for himself. However, once Willie finally realizes how he is being used he snaps and realizes what is happening to him. This realization serves as the point in the novel where Willie transforms into a completely different person. Its almost as if Willie had been walking around with a giant weight on his back and then he finally just gets tired of everything and he finally had just had simply enough of it. Willie changes from a boring speaker and a push over to a man who can thrill crowds with provocative speeches along with stand up and make decisions by himself. Willie decides to create his own path and this is how Willie is able to change his life and eventually become who he ended up to be later in his life. Another key aspect in Willies personality change is how he is now able to connect to the common person which enable him to get more votes. Now in his speeches he says things like they think we are ignorant country folk, or they think we are hicks, well we will show them what hicks can really do. When Willie states things along these lines in his speeches it allows him to strike home in ways that he was never able to do before in his speeches in which they were considered to be boring and full of complex mathematics and numbers that the people could not connect to. If willie had never came to a realization of how people are using him in life he would of never of been able to make it as far as he made it in the political world.