All the King's Men: Man As a Slave to Knowledge In Robert Penn Warren's novel, All the King's Men, Jack Burden states, “ The end of man is knowledge, but there is one thing a man can't know. He can't know whether knowledge will save him or kill him (9).” Jack's statement reveals that man is enslaved by knowledge. Familiar sayings such as, “Ignorance is bliss,” and, “what you don't know can't hurt you” also state this point. Examples of knowledge enslaving man are seen in the novel through the characters of Willie Stark, Adam Stanton and Jack Burden. Willie Stark is a character that attempts to conquer knowledge, even though in the end, h