The search for knowledge and truth is a compelling theme woven throughout All the King's Men and is especially evident in the story of Jack Burden. When Jack embarks on a quest towards self-knowledge, he realizes that most of his problems in life stem from his lack of knowledge and understanding of people, events and ideas. Jack's deficiency in this area often causes him to think about the past and hinders 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 influences his actions and decisions. Jack eventually gains vital knowledge, but it comes at a great cost due to the deaths of his friends and his 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 on with his life and come to terms with many issues such as life, love and responsibility. The reader is first introduced to Jack Burden, who appears 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 for that which it really is. I don't know, it doesn't hurt you, because it's not real" (30) is a quote that Jack picked up during his college days as a history major, and which he cites as the foundational element for 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 worldview seems to serve as Jack's defense against everything he doesn't understand, in particular some key events in his life that greatly affected 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 wasn't dead but that he might think of him as dead, and that the reason he left was because he no longer loved him, an answer that isn't quite the truth. , as Jack will. find out later. Six-year-old Jack's response is simple: "I love you, Mommy.