I believe the parallel
between Interlude III and chapter four, “The Survival Machine”, is quite
interesting. It was brought up during discussion how in both sections, a mother
dies due to pregnancy. The discussion has led me to wonder about the purpose of
Morgan including Interlude III. I believe that Morgan is bringing up an
important theme of the book, which is gender and racial status. More
specifically, women regardless of their race, as seen through Abby and
Henrietta, were treated as property.
Abby endures a life of
confinement and abuse. Abby describes how since the age of thirteen they
“lock(ed) me up in dis quarter, ain’t no bigger than a root cellar” (Morgan
295). Then she was forced for years to have sex with her “Marster” and the
other slaves. I believe Abby’s story is told to demonstrate how Henrietta also
experiences similar forms of oppression. In comparison to Abby one would expect
a white affluent person, Henrietta, to be extremely privileged and live an
ideal life. However, Morgan portrays how although Henrietta's suffering and
abuse is not as extreme as Abby’s, Henrietta still endures a confined life
where she is also raped. I believe Morgan is attempting to show how in both
sections of the book, regardless of wealth or race, as a result of being a woman
the two characters endure similar fates. Rather than being chained to a bed as
Abby was, Henrietta is essentially confined to the Forge’s property. Within
chapter four, Henrietta has essentially no friends or contacts outside of the
Forge’s property and seems to have no options to go anywhere else.
Additionally, as it is revealed at the end of the chapter Henry had been raping
Henrietta. From Henry pondering how there is a child growing in the “factory of
his daughter’s womb” (Morgan 378) it is clear how he regards Henrietta as not
much more than vesicle for carrying his child.
Additionally, Morgan
includes the situation of the abused horse and Tony in order to contradict
one's expectations of how Henrietta as a rich white woman would have power.
When Tony says how he believes that Henrietta is “someone who could do
something about” the abused horse, Henrietta responds by saying “What can
I do? I don't have any power” (Morgan 337). Thus, despite being white and
affluent Henrietta regards herself as someone who has no power as a result of
being a woman. Finally, the most compelling evidence is how both women suffer
the similar fate of death as a result of pregnancy.
Therefore, I believe
Interlude III and the similar forms of suffering which Henrietta and Abby go
through are created to explore the concept of racial and gender status. Morgan
is demonstrating how white men are at the top of a societal hierarchy where
although black people were treated worse than white, women in both genders were
exploited in similar ways.
When I first read this post, my immediate response was to deny any parallel between Abby and Henrietta because their different races distinguish their suffering. Abby’s suffering and exploitation is the result of a system of slavery based on race and a desire of white men to profit that affected millions of Africans and African Americans. Henrietta’s suffering is a result of her ancestors’ and father’s belief that women are property to be used “in a manner designed to improve [their] line…” (134). While it is true Abby and Henrietta were exploited for different reasons, I agree that the mistreatment of women, regardless of race, is an important theme demonstrated in other parts of the novel.
ReplyDeleteOne of the most severe examples of mistreatment towards women in the novel occurs after Lavinia returns home from her trip to Florida. John Henry brings her inside the house and then rapes her, and “when she shifted under him once in pain, he shuddered with pleasure…” (70). John Henry is using Lavinia as an object for his own sexual pleasure with no consideration to her thoughts or pain. Henry later carries on his father’s tendency to objectify women. When discussing Judith, Henry states, “Your mother, for all her faults, was a damn fine piece of property” (134). Henry does not value Judith as a person but instead sees her as property that allowed him to extend his family line. Misogyny plays a large role in propelling the events of The Sport of Kings.
ReplyDeleteThe parallel between Abby and Henrietta is not one that I would have thought of, but it is extremely interesting and draws an interesting perspective on how C.E. Morgan writes about women as a whole. Abby endured years of physical and mental abuse on the farm as a slave, and died trying to escape. Henrietta does not seem to endure any blatant mistreatment from Henry Forge, however her restrictment to the farm is a form of non-physical oppression. When Henrietta gets yelled at for being out for the night instead of at home, she asked herself if there was “really no escape?...am I not a grown woman?” (Morgan 180). Though Abby was a slave and Henrietta lived as a white woman in a wealthier family, they both experienced oppression from the other men in their lives just due to their status as women.
C.E. Morgan also incorporates the common theme of tragedy as both Abby and Henrietta only escaped their oppression through death due to pregnancy. This is very telling for the way that hierarchies are set up, saying that there is no escape from the oppression and abuse that they endured. Even them dying as pregnant women was telling, as many men consider women to be important only because they are able to carry children, and though Abby was never able to have her child, Henrietta was only able to pass on the Forge bloodline before she passed away, meaning that her only societal role was completed and she would have no real purpose in a man’s society thereafter.
It has been discussed multiple times that C.E. Morgan appears to be at times feministic in the way she has written both of her books and does that by bringing up big social issues of the inequality between men and women through all generations. Abby from many generations ago experience severe mistreatment from a man, Lavinia experienced severe mistreatment from her husband in the mid 20th century, and Henrietta experiences severe mistreatment in a recent time period. I think it is interesting that you paralleled Abby and Henrietta and also important because I think it is an important point that C.E. Morgan is trying to make. I personally take it as a statement that this is serious issue, and not only has it happened for centuries it is happening now. I think the way that she describes Lavinia’s rape scene is also important in her argument, because with Abby and the slave master you can assume the slave master doesn’t care about Abby, and Henry wanting a “pure” Forge child you can assume he is indifferent in the fact that who he is raping is his daughter but John Henry was not described as raping Lavinia as just complete anger for her betrayal but also was described as indifference. Morgan describes in the scene that the act of raping her meant nothing “stabbing into her, fast and with no feeling now” (70). I think the descriptions of indifference in these crimes with no logical justification magnifies Morgan’s call for attention to this devastating social issue.
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