All The King's Men

by Robert Penn Warren

All The King's Men: Dialect 2 key examples

Chapter 1
Explanation and Analysis—A Brace of Mustaches:

In Chapter 1, Jack observes Willie's charisma at work as the Boss talks with his constituents in Mason City. Willie and his team visit the drugstore in town, and Willie strikes up conversation with the soda jerk. Jack doesn't know who he is, so he refers to him as "a tall, gaunt-shanked, malarial, leather-faced side of jerked venison, wearing jean pants and a brace of mustaches hanging off the kind of face you see in photographs of General Forrest's cavalrymen." Jack is making an allusion to General Nathan Bedford Forrest, the Confederate general known for his expertise with cavalry (earning him the nickname "the Wizard of the Saddle").

Explanation and Analysis—Lak Hit Wuz:

Willie is a very shrewd politician, always meticulously aware of what his critics might use against him. When Willie makes a publicized visit to his family home outside of Mason City, in Chapter 1, Jack muses about how careful the Boss is to not seem out of touch with his constituents:

One time I had wondered why the Boss never had the house painted after he got his front feet in the trough and a dollar wasn't the reason you got up in the morning anymore. Then I figured the Boss knew best. Suppose he had it painted up, then the next fellow down the road would be saying to the next one, "Seen Old Man Stark got his house painted? Yeah, putten on airs. Hit looks lak hit wuz good enuff fer him to live in all his life lak hit wuz [...]"

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