Allusion Paragraph

In All the King’s Men, Robert Penn Warren utilizes allusions to reveal specific and unique ideas about the characters of Cass Mastern and Jack Burden. Warren alludes to Cassandra from Greek mythology to portray the relationship between Cass and Jack. In Greek mythology, the son god, Apollo granted Cassandra the power to foretell the future, but then she was punished with the curse that no one would believe her. In a way, Cass Mastern represents Cassandra for Jack. As a history student, Jack studies the life of his ancestor Cass, and while struggling to find meaning and understanding, Jack eventually comes to a realization of his own life and each individual’s significance in the world. From Jack’s research of his ancestor’s life, he creates his theory of life: “ He [Cass] learned that the world is like and enormous spider web and if you touch it , however lightly, at any point, the vibration ripples to the remotest perimeter and the drowsy spider feels the tingle…” Warren alludes to Telemachus, from The Odyssey, to show the father and son relationships throughout the novel through the archetypical father figures in Jack’s life. In The Odyssey, Telemachus was left responsible for his mother when his father when on his epic journey. Telemachus conflicted with the many suitors of his mother. Each suitor competed for his mother’s hand in an archery competition. Finally, one man prevailed in the feat and Telemachus did not immediately recognize that the man was, in fact, his father. Like Telemachus, Jack struggles with recognizing and accepting the father figures in his life. Although Judge Irwin was always in his life as a sort of father figure, it wasn’t until halfway through his life that Jack discovered that his father was really the Judge: “All during the meal it had been old times, which was another tribute to me…Old times, just before dessert, worked around how I used to make models with him.”