Why Cass Mastern?

Many might question on why chapter 4 was ever included in the novel in the first place. Chapter 4 is essential to the whole novel, because it contributes to the theme of All the King’s Men. The story of Cass Mastern is the story of a man who commits an evil deed, and who finds the rest of his life shaped by his sense of responsibility for the outcome of that deed. Cass cannot simply forget about Duncan Trice and Phebe, and his sense of responsibility drives him to leave Annabelle, to try to free Phebe, and to try to become an abolitionist in the South. Due to the fact that Cass commits adultery with Annabelle and this causes her to cheat on her husband; Cass feels guilty for the rest of his life. This correlates to Jack Burden and how he tries to learn to accept responsibility for his own actions. As a young man, Jack is simply not ready to understand Cass Mastern’s motivations because he is not ready to confront the idea of responsibility himself. “Or perhaps he laid aside the journal of Cass Mastern not because he could nto understand, but because he was afraid to understand for what might be understood there was a reproach to him” (Warren 284). The story of Cass Mastern becomes an index against which Jack’s progress as a character can be measured. The closer Jack comes to understanding Cass Mastern, the closer he is to accepting the idea of human responsibility. Perhaps we can say that Jack is still ignorant at this point in his life, and once he is able to understand Cass, then he has gained knowledge.

Now the actual crime which Cass commits can be seen as an evil act. The focus of evil vs. good runs throughout the story and it can be greatly pin-pointed here. The actual sin gave “security as the strength of the desire seemed to give the sanction of justice and righteousness” (Warren 255). Therefore, Cass seems to think that their desire made the act less evil, almost good. Even Annabelle herself says “’Oh let’s not think about it now’”, once they are finished with their sexual actions. She seems to have an evil influence upon Cass, and this causes him to think that their act wasn’t so sinful after all. But later his conscious haunts him and his personality begins to disintegrate as he begins his long life journey of finding Phebe. This could foreshadow the fact that Jack will one day realize that he cannot run from life and responsibility, which might cause him to have a downfall just like Cass. Hopefully, Jack won’t die though.