Here is the synopsis of our sample research paper on THE MOTIF OF KNOWLEDGE IN IBSEN’S GHOSTS AND WARREN’S ALL THE KINGS MEN
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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
This 3 page paper discusses the motif of knowledge in All the King's Men and Ibsen's Ghosts. Quotes cited from texts. Bibliography lists 2 sources.
Page Count:
3 pages (~225 words per page)
File: D0_MBghosts.rtf
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Unformatted sample text from the term paper:
would seem to be a price to pay for the gaining of knowledge. In Robert Penn Warrens novel, All the Kings Men, and Henrik Ibsens play, Ghosts, knowledge is shown
to be a double-edged sword, and most of the characters are left to bleed upon its blade. In Warrens novel, All the Kings Men, knowledge is indeed equal to power.
Revolving around political maneuverings, the storys main characters, Willie Stark and Jack Burden come to understand how power has a corrupting influence, even on those who start out with the
best of intentions. Willie Starks knowledge comes from being on the inside of a construction job where the foreman has determined to use sub-standard materials in the building of the
local schoolhouse. He denounces the decision publicly and when the schoolhouse falls, killing several of the children in the process, Stark becomes a hero in the towns eyes. This knowledge,
while benefiting Willie as well as the townspeople, only serves to build Willies reputation to the point that he is lifted so high on a pedestal that it is only
a matter of time before there is a fall from grace. Warren writes, "We can keep the past only by having the future, for they are forever tied together"(Warren 858).
The more involved Willie becomes in politics, the more corrupt he becomes. This is because he acquires knowledge on how the game is played and won. Discarding many of
his earlier, more noble, values, he becomes that which he had earlier despised. In the end, Ibsen writes, "The end of man is knowledge, but there is one thing he
cant know. He cant know whether knowledge will save him or kill him. He will be killed, all right, but he cant know whether he is killed because of the
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