Power Hungry and Eating All the
Rest
The Forge family has long been recognized
for their wealth, horse racing phenoms, and legacy, while sometimes negative, for
decades. However, their elite position in society oftentimes prevents them from
connecting with others on their quest to the top. The ladders, as referenced in
multiple times in The Sport of Kings, whether through genes and breeding, or through
cheating and cutting corners to get to the top, are Henry Forge’s path to
success. However, what happens when one reaches the top?
C. E. Morgan covers the issue of disillusionment
with society when one is in the upper echelon of society. In both the literal
and metaphorical sense, Morgan addresses Henry’s trouble of being incessantly
dissatisfied, saying, “Ambition is a form of suicide if it kills the simple
self” (520). The thing that defines humans as unique is emotional intimacy. That
uniqueness comes from the capacity for exhibiting morality (521). At our most basic
form, we are social creatures who have interacted with nature to create a cultivated
society with norms, standards, and ideals. On the endeavor to create an ideal
lineage through social Darwinist theories and isolate his close-minded ideals
from any seemingly imperfect, poor, or black person he encounters, Henry Forge commits
many immoral offenses, ranging from having sex with his daughter to implying
Maryleen Deane, as a child, is unworthy of his affection due to her looks. Henry
successfully splits the ideas of genetic lineage from family in his conquest to
grow up and be unlike his father in everything from profession to attitude, losing
his human nature of compassion (if he ever had any) along the way.
However, this one concept present
in most species of nature that extends to human life is that of competition. Whether
it be trees competing for sunlight or birds competing for a mate, there are
many competitive features of life on earth that lend themselves well to reproduction.
Humans exude this in societal competition, but Henry takes that to a breeding
and genetic level. He has lost a great deal of empathy, believing at the end of the book that he "had grown rich in the wild capitalism of life!"
Morgan has a common theme in much
of her writing of contrasting the permanence of the natural world and the ephemerality
of humanity’s manipulated societies. All dynasties eventually fall, and the Forge
family’s end in quite literally a ball of fire, burning both the stability of
their family’s lineage and the legacy that only meticulous breeding and steroids
can create for horses, and strict containment of individual development can create when passing traits from father to son. From Henrietta to Samuel, the issues of the Forge family cannot persist when the weak fragility of competitive wealthy advantage crumble and true human colors show through.
This idea that Henry’s ambition causes him to neglect morality is really interesting, especially in light of the idea throughout the book that humans and animals are machines. Henry’s most human trait, his ambition, leads to the destruction of his morality. I think maybe Henry can’t see that ambition is a human trait as well, and he allows himself to be caught up in the idea that humans are machines. He can’t see his own humanity, and so views himself as a complex machine. All of his focuses are distinctly on the betterment of his lineage. He’s an engineer, the architect of a genealogical ladder that he believes he can stabilise in the same way he could a horse’s line. He can’t see the differences between himself and a horse, other than his own ability to exert power over them. Only when he recognises his own humanity toward the end of the novel is he reconnected with the concept of his own morality, and then he recognises the lack of morality in his actions. All at once he’s hit with his humanity and I think it startles him. That’s why he tries so hard to make up for it with Samuel. His newfound empathy is showcased on page 466 when he says “‘Yes, I want a field of flowers. My grandson will like that.’” This is when he really starts to show more of an interest in other people rather than his own ambitions.
ReplyDeleteI really like your analysis of how the Forge family interacts with other people throughout the novel. We can obviously see that those outside the family think that there is something a little off about them. For example, while heading out to check on one of the Forge family horses Lou briefly thinks about her husband’s opinion on the family stating, “Those Forges are motherfucking nuts” (Morgan 307). We’re lead to believe that the outside opinion of the family is not too kind. I think a lot of factors play into why this is the case, but mostly it just boils down to how the members of the family are raised. Henry and Henrietta can never really develop any useful social skills for a variety of reasons. They’re removed from school at a very young age which separates them from people of their own age group, they come from parents who either don’t love each other or fail at expressing that love, and most importantly they’re lead to believe their whole life that they come from a blood line that is superior to all others. This final idea harkens back to what you said about their elite social status making it hard for them to connect to others. However I don’t think it's necessarily their actual status, but rather their belief in their own superiority.
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