The search for knowledge and truth is a compelling theme woven throughout All the King's Men, and this is particularly evident in the story of Jack Burden. When Jack embarks on a quest for self-knowledge, he realizes that most of his problems in life are due to his lack of knowledge and understanding of people, events, and ideas. Jack's shortcomings in this area often lead him to reflect on the past and hinder his ability to grow emotionally, an aspect of Jack that has been in arrested development for twenty years. Another important aspect of this theme is how Jack's incomplete picture of the world around him affects his actions and decisions. Ultimately, Jack gains vital knowledge, but it comes at a costly price due to the deaths of his friends and father. Jack concludes that "all knowledge that is worth anything is perhaps paid for in blood" and it is this knowledge that allows Jack to finally move forward in his life and accept many issues such as life, love and responsibility. The reader is first introduced to Jack Burden, he seems to be a somewhat idealistic man with no real ambition for himself but who is not truly satisfied or happy with his life and who refuses to see the world as it is really. I don't know, I won't hurt you, because it's not real" (30) is a quote that Jack picked up during his college years as a history student, and which he cites as the cornerstone of his entire worldview, a worldview that attempts to avoid the idea that actions have consequences and that people must take responsibility for their actions. This idealistic view of the world seems to serve as Jack's defense against anything he does not understand, particularly certain key events in his life that have greatly influenced him. The first major event in Jack's life that greatly affected him as a human being was his parents' divorce. which led to his father leaving when Jack was only six years old. Jack's mother explained to him that his father was not dead but that he could consider him dead, and that the reason he left was because he no longer loved him, an answer that did not isn't quite the truth, as Jack will. find out later. Six-year-old Jack's response is simple: "I love you, Mother..