ATKM #3 Ryan George

Men From Good to Bad

Hugh Miller- Hugh is the best on my list because he demonstrated good morals and good discretion when he quit working for Willie after the White scandal, and Willie’s decision to blackmail his enemies.  He realized that what he was doing was wrong and he was not going to change himself for the benefit of someone else.

Judge Irwin- For 99% of his life, he has been a good man.  He was a father figure to Jack, which is ironic.  Willie had Jack dig up some dirt on the Judge, and after asking several people he figured out that he took a bribe a long time ago.  This was one of the if not the only bad thing the Judge ever did.  After Jack told the Judge about the information he found, the Judge killed himself.  It is ironic that Jack’s father killed himself because of something Jack did.

            Gilbert Mastern- Gilbert has almost no role in the book, all I can remember is that he is Cass Mastern’s rich brother.

            Jack- Jack comes from a wealthy background, and knows many people.  He works for Willie, and despite some of the obviously corrupt tasks Willie asks him to complete, he seems to do his job with little question.  Jack is a very indecisive man.  This could be seen as a bad thing, that he would allow all of this to happen, as he was well aware of all of Willie’s decisions.  He was Willie’s political “right hand man” and advisor.  Although he was aware of what he was doing, he didn’t think too much about it, it was just his job.  Towards the end of the novel, Jack starts to question what he is doing and what he has done.  But for the most part, Jack was fairly neutral despite being one of the main characters.  

Adam Stanton- Although Adam was good throughout the book, he did kill someone, and no matter what, that’s not an option.  Mad that his father protected the Judge illegally, and that his sister Anne was having an affair with Willie, he ended up shooting Willie.

Gov Stanton- Politician- Governor Stanton was the Governor at the time when Judge Irwin was the Attorney General.  He was corrupt, and offered Judge Irwin, which he ended up accepting.

Tiny Duffy- Tiny was actually very fat, and very corrupt.  He is untrustworthy, and after Willie is assassinated, he becomes governor.

Tom Talos- Tom is Willie’s arrogant and egotistic son.  He is a star on for the State University’s football team.  Tom impregnates one woman and kills another when driving under the influence.  He ends up breaking his neck in a football came though, and becomes paralyzed for life.  Although a bit dramatic, I think this might have happened as karma.

Sugar Boy- Sugar Boy is honestly not too important in the book until the end.  He stutters a lot, and follows Willie, doing whatever he says without understanding the effect of any of it.  The reason he I have him on the bad side of the list is because he is the one who killed Adam Stanton, one of the few people in the book with good morals.

Willie- Willie started out as an unexperienced but determined politician.  Throughout the book, he works hard, and eventually is elected as governor of the state.  The way he got there though was very corrupt, often blackmailing his opponents and bribing important people.  Along with the corruption, he drinks often and had a handful of affairs with Anne and Sadie.  Willie’s idea about life is that everything is made from dirt, and everything is bad, and that you need to make good out of the badness.

Women From Good to Bad

Phoebe- Fairly insignificant in the plot, Phoebe is a slave girl who returned Annabelle her husband’s wedding ring after he committed suicide, and ended up getting sold

Lucy- Lucy is Willie’s wife.  She sees and observes has her husband’s morals slowly disintegrate as he goes deeper into his career. She always takes care of Tom, her and Willies son, and ends up leaving Willie as she finds herself disappointed with Willies constant lack of ethics and morals.

Lois- Lois was Jack’s first wife.  She was a good looking lady, and Jack talked about how she was a “sex machine”.  Jack ended up leaving her

Jack’s mom- Jack’s mom had more than one affair.  For more reasons than this, Jack is not too fond of his mother, as he thinks she is rich and snobbish, only trying to be young when she isn’t.  However, towards the end of the book, Jack’s negative ideas about his mom are minimized after explanations that prove she was actually in love with Judge Irwin, and not just having an affair for no reason.

Sadie- Sadie is Willie’s secretary.  She has been working with Willie from the beginning.  She always observed his close relationships with other woman, and often became jealous.  After Willie told her he was leaving her for Lucy, she got so mad that she told Tiny about Anne’s affair with Willie.  Tiny tells Adam who ends up killing Willie.  Anne’s tattle-tail mentality contributed to Willies death.

Anne- Anne grew up with Jack, and was Jack’s first love.  However, as time went on, they grew further and further apart.  She always asks Jack for favors, and ends up having an affair with Willie.

Annabelle- Annabelle cheated on her husband Duncan, and after the slave girl Phoebe did her a favor, she sold her.