Finally, Jack learns that he is Judge Irwin's primary heir — the heir to the property that the judge accepted a bribe in order to save. The result of this series of shocks is to shatter the preconceptions Jack has had about the people in his life, and to shatter the "ice" that has gripped his heart for so long.
He can feel compassion, and even love, for his mother, for he has discovered that she has truly loved someone. He can understand now why the Scholarly Attorney left his wife and child, although he feels that this action was weak. He is, indeed, relieved to find out that the Scholarly Attorney is not his father, since he has always felt tainted by the Scholarly Attorney's weakness.
Yet he is somewhat confused in these feelings, since he has very positive feelings about Ellis Burden's gentleness and concern. Finally, he is proud of his real father, Judge Irwin, for accepting all responsibility for his past actions, as well as for the judge's continuing to act on his principles in the face of a threat.
He comes to understand what had happened when his life was shattered and to understand more fully why these things happened. As a result, Jack Burden can begin to accept himself and his past more fully, and he can begin to develop a new perspective on life. Previous Chapter 7. Next Chapter 9. Removing book from your Reading List will also remove any bookmarked pages associated with this title. Are you sure you want to remove bookConfirmation and any corresponding bookmarks?
My Preferences My Reading List. Jack started investigating the judge's past in order to find something that Willie Stark could use against Judge Irwin and persuade the judge to withdraw his support for MacMurfee's senatorial candidacy.
The search took too long to be of use for that purpose, but such information is always useful if that is the way one does business. When the business of Marvin Frey and his daughter arose, Willie Stark thought to use the matter of the judge's accepting a bribe years ago in order to persuade the judge to thwart MacMurfee's schemes.
The judge's death stopped that plan, however; yet the first ripple from the end of that story was that Willie Stark had to deal with Gummy Larson, to give him the contract for the hospital. The next event that produces a reverberation that intensifies the ripple started by Judge Irwin's death is Tom Stark's injury, an injury that leaves Tom paralyzed.
This, in a sense, paralyzes Willie Stark's political maneuvers. He has come to a point at which he no longer has control of the situation. Before Judge Irwin's death, the Boss had been able to get what he wanted by buying or bullying people, and he had been able to do so without giving up anything himself.
When Judge Irwin killed himself rather than accept the alternatives offered by the governor, Willie Stark is put into a position in which he has control but in which he has no choice but to give up something important to him: he can have Gummy Larson call off MacMurfee by giving Larson the hospital contract, or he can call MacMurfee and concede the Senate seat that Willie wants for himself.
When Tom Stark is paralyzed because his spinal cord has been crushed, there is nothing that Willie can do. He cannot buy anything. He cannot bully anyone. He cannot do a thing to change this situation to suit himself or to fit into his plans. Willie's inability to do anything forces him to stop and think. At first, he spins his mental wheels. As though it will, somehow, make some difference, he decides that the hospital should be named after Tom.
Then Lucy points out that naming the hospital after Tom is not important, that none of the things that Willie has been so concerned with are things that are really important.
Exactly what the process is that causes Willie to change his thinking is not shown to the reader; it is, instead, suggested. Murrell are able to find a sort of peace with the world and their pasts.
Judge Irwin meant his death as a gift. The bullet through the heart makes that clear. That's the tragedy of Judge Irwin. With all the grim secrets of the South in those days as we see in the Cass Burden story , it's no wonder that Judge Irwin lets a bullet to the heart do the talking for him. Slavery can even be thought of as a bullet through the collective heart of humanity. Parents Home Homeschool College Resources. Study Guide. By Robert Penn Warren. Previous Next.
Judge Montague Irwin Judge Irwin is Jack's real father, and he shoots himself in the heart rather than reveal this secret. Murrell Judge Montague Irwin Dr.
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