The Burden Of History

Robert Perm Warren is often described as a historical writer. It is most probably because his major works are based on historical events and figures. The plots of All the King's Men, one of his masterpieces, are unexceptionally taken from the story of a real historical figure, Huey Long, the late state governor of Louisiana. More than a biography of Huey Long, the novel reflects the historical transition at the late nineteenth and the early twentieth century. Besides, through his narration of Willie Stark's story and Jack Burden's two excursions into the past, Warren states his historical conception, the spider-web theory. He thinks that history is a network of causes and effects. Only by knowing one's past can one live a meaningful life in the present and in the future. A lover of history since his childhood, Warren is influenced most greatly by the Civil War in the formation of his historical view. He holds the opinion that the Southerners can face the present and expect the future only after their acceptance of the historical burden.