The Cass Mastern material

The Cass Mastern material

by James A. Perkins

Part of Southern literary studies

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"One of the most striking parts of Robert Penn Warren's novel All the King's Men is Chapter 4, in which narrator Jack Burden tells the story of his distant relative Cass Mastern. A Confederate soldier, Mastern betrays his best friend by falling in love with the man's wife and then out of guilt tries repeatedly to get killed in battle but ironically becomes a hero for his daring, before finally attaining a mortal wound. In The Cass Mastern Material, James A. Perkins fully explores how this episode supplies the crucial piece to a puzzle surrounding Warren's novel, tracing the story's evolution through several versions and genres over almost twenty years." "This unique volume affords a view of Warren's restless creative process and throws new light on the story that formed the crux of his greatest novel - a story he apparently never felt he had exhausted."--Jacket.

Discussion questions for The Cass Mastern material

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  1. 1

    How does James A. Perkins’s exploration of the Cass Mastern material change your understanding of All the King's Men as a whole, moving beyond just being a famous interlude in Jack Burden’s narrative?

  2. 2

    Robert Penn Warren continuously returned to Cass Mastern’s story across nearly twenty years and multiple genres; why do you think this specific narrative of guilt, betrayal, and redemption held such a persistent grip on his imagination?

  3. 3

    Cass Mastern’s journey suggests that every action we take sends out a web of consequences that we can neither predict nor control. Can you think of a moment in your own life where a seemingly small decision rippled outward in unexpected ways?

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