There is no secret that all parts of Kentucky seem to be
behind the times, especially when it comes to gender roles and power balances
in relationships between males and females. In The Sport of Kings by
C.E. Morgan, this is made very evident by the many patriarchal generations of
Forge men. From John Henry’s rule over Filip (58), to Henry forcing himself on
his own daughter (363), the men in this novel seem to believe they have
limitless power. Despite these beliefs, though, the children seem to reject their
fathers. Henry despises his father for being overbearing, even though he ends
up with a near identical temperament; Allmon barely even knows his father, and
Henrietta wants and loves Allmon despite her father and grandfather’s racism. A
prominent maternal figure in their lives would likely help, and Allmon feels
the benefits of this with his mother until she dies of her chronic illness.
Henry and Henrietta are not so lucky, as their mothers both tend to be
steamrolled by their father, leaving them to be permanently affected by their
upbringing.
These rejections of their fathers lead the main characters
to be fundamentally bad at relationships. This is evident with Henrietta’s
behavior at a young age, “she gave herself to the Irishman, and he took her”
(153). This proves that Henrietta does not even attempt relationships, likely
due to the fact that her father has made breeding and sex seem so sterile that
it becomes simply an act of pleasure, and not something associated with the
deep meaning of love. Allmon is similarly poor at relationships, shown when
Henrietta attempts to connect with him and he spurns her advances, “she
recovered herself and reached out for him, but Allmon extended one forearm and
pushed her back, shaking his head like a wounded bear” (348). In this scene,
Henrietta genuinely wants to learn more about Allmon, but he feels so
distraught thinking about his childhood that he cannot reconcile his feelings
to explain to them to her. All these difficulties that they have seem to stem
from the fact that their childhood was incomplete, and that both their fathers
were unable to give them a proper upbringing in order for them to be able to
connect with others. From these situations, I believe I learned that men may
believe they have power over women, but as generations have passed in history,
men seem to act more like their mothers. This is likely due to the fact that
men recognize that they actually have far less power than they think, and that
a strong maternal figure is arguably more important for children to develop
properly.
I liked your argument that men live under the false belief their power is their own, when it is rather rooted in their mothers. I agree that Morgan makes a strong theme throughout her novel regarding the influence of mothers. One moment which especially stands out to me is when Alloman's mother tells him he must grow up, find a job, and get out of his hometown. His response, "yeah momma" (258) carries him beyond his initial money-making tactics and into the travel and prestige which comes with horse racing.
ReplyDeleteI was also interested in this post's point about gender balance. An intesting point could be made as to Henrietta's use of sex. On one hand, she uses men for her own pleasure, suggesting she has control over her own sexuality. However, her father forces himself onto her and takes away her freedom and thus power over her own sexuality. This only furthers the argument that men see themselves as being in power; sexuality is one means by which they feel empowered.
The one narrative told by Morgan which confuses me on this point is Henry's attitude towards his grandson Samuel. I would be curious to discuss whether Morgan is making a point through making a man adopt more "matronly" characteristics, or if she has been commenting on parenting in general rather than gender specific roles. Regardless, it is certainly interesting that this character, like those in the past, will not have a strong mother figure during his upbringing.
This insight is subtle but helps to reflect a new ideological lens for which one can view the book. Seeing this rejection of the negative qualities of their parents helps to show the growth of Kentucky’s society of the course of the book. Even though these negative qualities are used between generations, the characters tend to learn the error of their ways. For example, Henry realizes that he is overbearing like his father and Henrietta learns to not be overbearing in the only thing she can control, which happens when she lets Allmon on top when they have sex.
ReplyDeleteThe jump from rejection of fathers to being bad at relationships seems like a bit of a jump, but the points you make are good. The isolation from society experienced by Henry, Henrietta, and Allmon are more to blame for their lack of social skills than the rejection of their fathers. Henry spends his time reading and learning about horses and not interacting with other people. Henrietta is isolated on the farm by Henry at a young age, causing her to lose valuable interaction time. Allmon is busy taking care of his mom and learning the social intricacies of jail, not the outside world. This isolation, whether imposed by self or others, is a bigger contributor to the social isolation and lack of relationship skills than them rejecting their father.
I found your argument about power balances regarding gender roles to always tip towards men to be a good point. C. E. Morgan is able to consistently display men like Henry Forge and Mack Snyder as having an advantage when it comes to authority over characters like Allmon and Henrietta. But, I do believe that Henry, Henrietta, and Allmon each become some part of their father. Throughout the majority of the novel, Henry proves time and time again that he grew to be like his father. Whether its the lessons he teaches Henrietta, showing his authority through the submissive “Do you understand me?” (181), labeling sex to be “designed by nature to perpetuate the species”, and keeping her in isolation so he can influence her life decisions. In turn, we see Henrietta mold a little bit in the image of Henry by seeing sex as a mechanical, emotionless act and sleeping with a plethora of older men. But when Henrietta says “then that one vile word, coined long ago and wielded like a white man’s axe” (373) that the Forge family has placed generations worth of dictative power behind, the reader gets a true sense of how Henrietta represents Henry Forge. Additionally, the reader sees Allmon become Mike Shaunessey after finding out about Henrietta’s baby and abandoning them. Even though Allmon returns in the end, he first made the decision to leave Henrietta and the baby like how Mike left him and Marie. While Morgan gave support for the argument that all characters had a bit of their father in them, it also emphasizes the inequality of power balances and gender roles.
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