Response Essay All the Kings Men Essays

Response Essay All the Kings Men Essays Response Essay All the Kings Men Essay Response Essay All the Kings Men Essay Literary devices are the tools and techniques of language that authors use to convey meaning. The skilled use of literary devices brings richness and clarity to a text. Robert Penn Warren utilizes various literary devices throughout his novel, All the King’s Men. Jack and Willie are co-protagonists and are able to be understood through the use of literary devices. Robert Penn Warren effectively presents his own knowledge to the reader about the past and its evident impact on the present through his use of different narration forms, metaphor, and characterization in the opening section of the novel to highlight the flaws of both protagonists. Warren shifts from second person to first person plural to contrast Jack’s pessimistic attitude towards life with his positive, accepting outlook at the end of the novel. Later in the novel the reader is exposed to Jack’s distressing past, which gives an explanation to his initial impression as a negative person. Jack’s tone is established initially through his description of an improbable accident; a scenario in which the driver loses focus and drives off the edge of the highway slab, getting stuck on the side of the road, marking the end of his journey. He concludes this thought with a sense of defeat as he points out, â€Å"You won’t make it, of course† (Warren, 1).Jack’s depressing approach to this dilemma causes the reader to feel helpless and to expect the worst out of every scenario that will be presented throughout the novel. The tone established through Jack’s approach speaks about how the characters’ past affects thei r future; specifically, how Jack’s current life has been affected by the heartbreak and abandonment of his past. Jack uses the word â€Å"you† when describing theoretical scenarios or even personal events, as seen before, to put the blame on the reader. Warren’s choice to narrate the story through Jack is influential to the novel as a whole because the rea