Though it is not structured exactly like a typical tragedy, The Sport of Kings presents the story of a painfully long fall for Henry Forge: he loses his daughter and his will to race horses, and is left to rebuild the Forge legacy (or not) with Henrietta's child, Samuel. The question of what brought this tragedy about, while multi-faceted, can be boiled down to one concept: legacy. In my opinion, John Henry Forge may not have been so abusive in his education of Henry were he not trying to uphold the family legacy, and Henry may not have continuously raped Henrietta were he not trying to produce an heir. The pressure to adhere to tradition in John Henry's case and the pressure to maintain the family name in Henry's case lead to the downfall of the Forge family.
John Henry expects quiet obedience from his son, because that is what his father expected of him. In the opening scene when John Henry is about to beat his son, he says "I gave you that mouth. I'll tell you when to open it"(9). He wants Henry to grow up with a dutiful appreciation of his father and his family, and to one day join the long line of corn farmers, never changing anything. "Our crop is our family," he says (10). Similarly, when Henry confides in John Henry that he wants to turn their property into a horse farm, John Henry is appalled at his son for wanting to break tradition, which he views as "learning collected." According to John Henry, "there is no need for improvement, only adherence to a line that has...never proven unsound" (51). Though Henry does follow his ambition and raise horses, he still raises Henrietta with the elitist mindset with which his father raised him. The painful memories of his childhood influence his adult personality, which leads to pain for Henrietta.
Throughout Henrietta's education, Henry places an emphasis on their family name. When he describes to Henrietta her inheritance, he says "Everything you need is already in this house" (120). Like his father, he makes the mistake of assuming that his child will be content simply carrying on the name rather than adding to it. He also tells her that she is too good for any man, and that she "won't be like any other girl" (121). Reflecting on the novel, I think that this was his way of isolating her from the possibility of an equal relationship with a partner, and a rationalization for later trying to procreate with her himself. Henry's need for legacy contributes to the Forge tragedy because he distorts Henrietta's view of love from a young age, and she dies probably never having experienced healthy romantic love. Perhaps with Almond, but it is also his child that kills her.
Through the Forge family, Morgan suggests that it is rarely, if ever, possible for a person to escape his or her fate. Corn farm or racetrack, Henry was always going to be an abusive father, because that is all he knows; how he was bred. As a woman in the Forge family, Henrietta could never have escaped the abuse that awaited her, even though she had the money to get out. She is tied to her father by more than proximity.
While I completely agree with what you said about the Forge’s and how their lives were already predetermined for them, I think that the real tragedy in the book revolves around Allmon. Although the story of Henry and Henrietta is a tragedy, the situation that Allmon faces in the novel is also a tragedy and in my opinion is relatable to a wider audience than the tragedy f the Forges. Allmon’s tragedy begins with the false hope that his father will come back for him. Allmon says,” If Momma dies Daddy’ll come back.” From the start of Allmon’s life he carries this false hope that has been ingrained in his mind by his mother that his father will return at some point and care for both of them. Allmon’s tragedy is further pushed along once he gets involved with Aesop and the drug trade that Aesop runs. Aesop is the true father figure in Allmon’s life, showing him how to live on the street. This worsens Allmon’s life as he is being taught how to live his life and what morals to follow by a street drug dealer. Although he joins Aesop for the noble reason of trying to help pay for his mothers medical treatments, it ultimately leads to his downfall. The thing that completely cements Allmon’s downfall/ tragedy in the novel has to be his decision to take money instead of being involved in his child’s life. He makes the same mistake that he hates his father for, abandoning his child and making the child grow up without a true father. For these reasons, I would argue that the true tragedy in the book is the life of Allmon Shaughnessy.
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ReplyDeleteI agree with your idea that the characters seem to be unable to escape the fate predestined for them. Ever since the start of the novel, it is clear that preserving the Forge family name is of utmost importance to John Henry and Henry. They want to keep their elite status as they strive towards perfection. It is interesting that we see the extreme hatred Henry has toward his father because he will not let him pursue his own passions, yet later on when Henry becomes a parent he exhibits this same type of attitude toward Henrietta. Henry brings Henrietta into the horse racing life when she is a little girl and forces her to take riding lessons (130). However, "what roused her to an almost pained interest...was the mystery of the earth's composition and all of its inhabitants" (130). Henry never considered his own daughter's interests, becoming the same parent as John Henry. To add on to what you said about Henrietta, just by her being a woman, she has to stay within the confines of her social role. “She was a woman, so she was a slave to life” (370). This has parallels to her mother Judith, who leaves Henrietta as a child because she believes that “men aren’t interested in your happiness” when speaking to Henrietta (117). Even though she tries to escape what she thinks will be her fate of unfilled life, she is still filled with regret in her life at the end.