With the opening
lines of the story, “Henry Forge, Henry Forge! How far away from your father
can you run?” (3), the author C.E. Morgan seems to introduce in The Sport
of Kings the idea of running away from the identity of one’s ancestors or their
legacy. It becomes apparent in the novel that Henry ends up being more like his
father, John Henry than he thinks with his own abuse towards his daughter and
wife, as well as chronic racism. I found this aspect of the story especially
compelling because this seems to be a theme I notice in my hometown with most
of the people ending up living in the same place they grew up despite having a
period of rebellion towards their family much like Henry did with his father. Henry
seems to recognize this flaw in a reflection of his childhood and how he ended up
like his father later in the novel, “A father was born for himself, and his son
was himself in perpetuity”(312). Despite
the fact that Henry realizes that he embodies many of the aspects he used to
despise of his father, he doesn’t seem to make a significant change until the
death of his daughter Henrietta. After
Henrietta passes away, Henry Forge goes silent, however, he receives advice from
Ginnie’s husband Roger, “They taught me that God made of one blood all peoples
of the earth…but when you grow up, you have to take responsibility for your
adult mind”(407). Roger’s quote seems to
have a direct impact over Henry Forge’s outlook, “The child—the wrong color
but the right blood—was his. His family. The child’s name is Samuel” (423). Although
Henry still views Samuel as the “wrong color”, in this quote Henry is openly
accepting the fact that Samuel is a Forge and acknowledges that Samuel being
the “right blood” is more important to him than Samuel being the “wrong color”.
Additionally, by naming the child Samuel, Henry views the baby as a new start
to the Forge legacy as he chooses the same name for his grandbaby as the first
known Forge ancestor we hear about in the story. Although one could argue that
this is not a change in Henry because he has always held importance in his
own legacy, I would argue that Henry is beginning to go against what we would
expect of him simply by putting what he thinks is right ahead of what he
previously thought his legacy was. Another example of Henry going against what
we would expect comes when he retires Hellsmouth following her win at
the Kentucky Derby. For Henry, his horses are just as important to his
legacy as the farm was to his father John Henry’s legacy. In this instance, Henry is willing to give up his legacy, his horse, in order to do what he felt
was right just like how he choose to put his grandbaby ahead of what he thought his family should look like.
While I agree with most of what this blog post says, I think it gives Henry Forge more credit than he has earned. I think he certainly has realized the error of his ways, at least to an extent. An imagined conversation with his father--John Henry--well exemplifies Henry's change of mind. Henry says, "Now I know you cannot kill a tyrant…because a man who kills a tyrant becomes a killer and a tyrant. And that, Father, is why they call it the wheel" (Morgan 489). Henry understands that, with Henrietta, he repeated the cycle his father started. Before her death, Henrietta feels trapped by her father. "She knew with absolute certainty that there was no animal on Earth less free than herself. But the question remained: What was her duty? Well, she had always said her duty was to Henry, and from that duty, she had excised herself only for pleasure" (Morgan 370). Whether Henry meant to or not, he prevents his daughter from living life for herself. She is wholly devoted to him, and therefore he is a tyrant, just as his father was.
ReplyDeleteAfter Henrietta dies, Henry realizes his mistake, regrets it, and takes substantial measures to make life better for Samuel. However, doting on his grandson does necessarily mean he has changed his ideas on a pure bloodline. Samuel is the only person alive—that Henry knows of—that has Forge blood. Henry says Samuel has "the wrong color but the right blood" (Morgan 423). Henry says that line, however, with the context that Samuel is the last person he has left. Therefore, I disagree that Henry is "willing to give up his legacy… in order to do what he felt was right just like how he choose [sic] to put his grandbaby ahead of what he thought his family should look like" (Blog Comment above). I think Henry accepts his grandson not because he is willing to move past his obsession with legacy, but because Samuel is the only way to continue said legacy. He doesn't want to give up his legacy; he wants to improve it by breaking the wheel of tyrant fathers.
While I do agree with your earlier point that Henry Forge ends up much like his father John Henry, I do believe he did show flashes of an individual identity prior to the death of Henrietta and the birth of Samuel. One obvious example of this is that Henry began breeding horses instead of maintaining a traditional farm like his father before him. Marginal as this is, it shows that he did mean it when he said claimed he wanted to be different from his father, it was just much more difficult than he may have thought to become drastically different with all the ideals that had become ingrained in him while growing up. Then, with Samuel I agree that Henry makes a strong effort to finally break away from the legacy of his father. He changes the naming convention of Henry-like names that he even stuck to when naming his daughter. I believe he deep down saw the potential for someone to ‘run away from their father, as he innately responded when asked the baby’s name, “’The child’s name is Samuel,’ he said, surprising himself” (423). This shows that he innately made this connection to the baby having a new start and that this child will be able to break away from the legacy of Forge men, and truly blaze a new path.
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