All The King's Men

by

Robert Penn Warren

Lucy Stark Character Analysis

Willie’s long-suffering wife, Lucy has been with Willie since before the days of his fame, and though he has carried on many affairs during the time of their marriages, she remains with Willie until his death, though living apart from him. She even names her grandson Willie, after her late husband, because, as she she tells Jack, Willie “was a great man.”
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Lucy Stark Character Timeline in All The King's Men

The timeline below shows where the character Lucy Stark appears in All The King's Men. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 1
Politics, Influence, and Power Theme Icon
Personal History, Memory, and Time Theme Icon
The South and Southern Culture Theme Icon
Willie, Lucy, his son, the narrator, and Mr. Duffy get back in the Cadillac, and Sugar-Boy begins... (full context)
Politics, Influence, and Power Theme Icon
Personal History, Memory, and Time Theme Icon
The South and Southern Culture Theme Icon
Loyalty, Friendship, and Betrayal Theme Icon
...old farmer, skinny and wrinkled and taciturn, emerges from the house and welcomes, quietly, Willie, Lucy, Jack, and Duffy. After sitting in the parlor for a moment, the next car arrives,... (full context)
Politics, Influence, and Power Theme Icon
Personal History, Memory, and Time Theme Icon
The South and Southern Culture Theme Icon
Loyalty, Friendship, and Betrayal Theme Icon
...which he has in a flask in his pocket. Willie confesses that his father, like Lucy, is not much for drinking, even now, although Willie clearly is now a drinker. (full context)
Chapter 2
Idealism vs. Pragmatism Theme Icon
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Personal History, Memory, and Time Theme Icon
The South and Southern Culture Theme Icon
Loyalty, Friendship, and Betrayal Theme Icon
...have a back-room deal with Moore over Jeffers), and Burden ends up at Willie and Lucy’s house for dinner that night. Lucy also tells Burden that she has been fired as... (full context)
Idealism vs. Pragmatism Theme Icon
Politics, Influence, and Power Theme Icon
Personal History, Memory, and Time Theme Icon
The South and Southern Culture Theme Icon
Loyalty, Friendship, and Betrayal Theme Icon
...his opposition to Pillsbury’s corrupt schoolhouse bidding process, Willie returned to his father’s farm with Lucy, and set about as a door-to-door salesman. Willie also began studying for the law exam... (full context)
Chapter 3
Idealism vs. Pragmatism Theme Icon
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Jack then reveals that, after a long spate of Willie’s infidelities, Lucy Stark finally decides to leave her husband, but she claims she is doing so because... (full context)
Idealism vs. Pragmatism Theme Icon
Politics, Influence, and Power Theme Icon
Personal History, Memory, and Time Theme Icon
The South and Southern Culture Theme Icon
Loyalty, Friendship, and Betrayal Theme Icon
...members of the administration celebrate the Governor’s apparent victory over the legislature. Willie complains that Lucy does in fact want to leave him (though he believes she will not ultimately do... (full context)
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Burden then closes the chapter by stating that Lucy did wind up leaving Willie, more or less, but not entirely, not legally—she keeps up... (full context)
Chapter 5
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...the Boss comes up to him, afterward, to congratulate him. The Boss is angry that Lucy still wishes to keep Tom from playing football, believing it is too dangerous, and Jack,... (full context)
Chapter 6
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Loyalty, Friendship, and Betrayal Theme Icon
Jack reports, however, that Lucy felt, in the meantime, that her son was becoming an overconfident and arrogant young man,... (full context)
Chapter 8
Idealism vs. Pragmatism Theme Icon
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...not in fact the biological father of the child. In the meantime, Burden meets with Lucy Stark, whom he feels, intuitively, needs his help at this difficult moment in the family... (full context)
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Jack breaks the news of Tom’s situation to Lucy, in the small clapboard house where Lucy is living, outside Baton Rouge—Lucy has been informed... (full context)
Chapter 9
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Lucy joins Willie at the hospital—she has been living apart from Willie, still, but recognizes that... (full context)
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Willie is led away by Lucy, who tells him he needs to rest, having been awake for more than 24 hours.... (full context)
Chapter 10
Idealism vs. Pragmatism Theme Icon
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The South and Southern Culture Theme Icon
Loyalty, Friendship, and Betrayal Theme Icon
...of the injuries he sustained during his injury on the football field—Jack goes to visit Lucy Stark at her farm-home, where she lives with her sister, and finds there the child... (full context)