 The rhyme has also been used as a reference in more serious literary works , including as a recurring motif of the Fall of Man in James Joyce 's 1939 novel <unk> Wake . Robert Penn Warren 's 1946 American novel All the King 's Men is the story of populist politician Willie Stark 's rise to the position of governor and eventual fall , based on the career of the corrupt Louisiana Senator Huey Long . It won the 1947 Pulitzer Prize and was twice made into a film All the King 's Men in 1949 and 2006 , the former winning the Academy Award for best motion picture . This was echoed in Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward 's book All the President 's Men , about the Watergate scandal , referring to the failure of the President 's staff to repair the damage once the scandal had leaked out . It was filmed as All the President 's Men in 1976 , starring Robert <unk> and Dustin Hoffman . Similarly , Humpty Dumpty is referred to in Paul <unk> 's 1985 novel City of Glass , when two characters discuss him as " the <unk> embodiment of the human condition " and quote extensively from Through the Looking Glass . 
