Class status in All the King’s Men is rarely stated outright, but it is very clear where everyone stands or stood in the class caste system and it is an important factor in every interaction. One of the rare occasions where class is spoken of openly is when Willie Talos, while drunk, appeals to the masses by explaining his history, “’Oh he [Willie] knew what it was to be a hick, summer and winter. He figured if he wanted to do anything he had to do it himself’” (128). When Willie makes a speech for his campaign for governor, he lets all the country folk know that he is one of them. He insults the crowd that had gathered, calling them hicks and rednecks, but makes it clear that he is no different, only that he worked hard and rose to a higher class. His former class is not a source of pride, yet it does not make him any less important than the other politicians and he states in this speech that while he is backing out of this race, he will run for governor again; next time on his own. Willie’s class and background are very different from Jack’s, who is upper class and even without taking money from his family, wealthy enough to live without working. While out to dinner with Annie he states, “She asked me what I was doing, and I told her, ‘Not a blessed thing. Just waiting for my cash to run out’” (145). Although he refused to take money from his mother for college, he has always had the benefit of being wealthy and upper class. He tells Annie he isn’t doing anything and it is clear he doesn’t need to, the money he has amassed from his previous jobs is much more than a lower class man could have saved and can afford to live without a care. He also knows that if he is ever in need he could always turn to his mother for support. When Jack and his mother talk on his college choices, her attitude towards appearances within their social circle is expressed; “’Oh, son,’ my mother said, ‘why don’t you be sensible and go to Harvard or Princeton.’ For a woman out of the scrub-country of Arkansas, my mother had certainly learned a lot by that time about our better educational institutions. ‘Or even Williams,’ she said. ‘They say it’s a nice refined place’” (167). Jack responds to her later that she only says this because it would be easier for her to tell her friends he was at a prestigious school rather than the less esteemed one he had decided to attend. Jack’s mother, like Willie did not begin her life rich, yet married into a wealthy family and learned what it meant to be upper class. She wants the best for her son, not because she wants him to prosper, but because of how others will see their family. This is apparent also when she urges him to let Theodore find him a job other than working for Willie. In each interaction between characters, there is a knowledge of the social hierarchy and of who has more connections. Everyone knows each other’s place in the order and acts accordingly.
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