Throughout All the King's Men, history plays an important role in the motivations and
             lives of all the characters. History's importance is most noticeable, not surprisingly, in the
             story main characters - Willie Stark and Jack Burden - whose lives focus on and, in some
             cases, depend upon history and how they relate themselves to it. While Willie Stark views
             history as a tool with which to manipulate people for his own ends, an attitude resulting in
             his own destruction, Jack Burden's view of history changes over time and eventually
             allows him to accept his relationship to the past and, therefore, present. Since each man
             has such a differing view it is no wonder that history becomes important to each in
             different ways. Willie Stark must support his entire empire in a world of enemies and
             corruption, to do this he relies on the past to provide him with the foundation. "Dirt's a
             funny thing," the Boss said. "Come to think of it, there ain't a thing but dirt on this God's
             green globe except what's under water, and that's dirt too. It's dirt makes the grass grow.
             A diamond ain't a thing in the world but a piece of dirt that got awful hot. God-a-Mighty
             picked up a handful of dirt and blew on it and made you and me and George Washington
             and mankind blessed in faculty and apprehension. It all depends on what you do with the
             In this case, Stark is referring to the past as dirt - something to be used in many ways. The
             way he chooses to use it of course is as blackmail; "Then he would lean suddenly forward,
             at the man, and say, not slow and easy now, 'God damn you, do you know what I can do
             to you?' And he could too. For he had the goods." Thus history is important to Stark as
             the device by which he maintains power.
             Both Stark and Burden use history differently according to the way it figures into their
             lives. To Stark, ultimate power being paramount, history is a thing to be used in the
             manipulation of ...