Transcendentalism in The Sport of Kings

Writers like Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau helped develop and spread transcendentalism in the mid-19th century. However, in The Sport of Kings, C. E. Morgan portrays transcendentalist ideals in a more contemporary setting through practices of self-sufficiency, nature, and community.

Penn, referred to as Henrietta’s “only friend” is undoubtedly the messenger of transcendentalism (172). He lives on a simple farm, surrounded only by nature and rejects industrial machinery. He is self-reliant and produces only what is necessary to prevent hurting the Earth through overconsumption. In Walden, Thoreau details a similar experience of self-sufficiency, living alone in a cabin in the woods and actively seeking an understanding of nature. Henry is linked to Penn through an excerpt in one of Henrietta’s notebooks in which she transcribes a speech from a tape he owns. The speech contains a strong opposition to overconsumption and the capitalist manner of taking resources from the natural world, which again promotes the transcendentalist ideal of self-reliance (444). However, more importantly, the speech ends with the statement “‘The only true answer is to think” (445). 

When Henry visits Penn’s farm for the first time, he stands gazing onto untouched nature in the same place Henrietta did the first time she visited. Penn comments “‘I just like to stand up here and think...It’s the big view, you know. I feel so lucky to have it. But what are you going to do with a view like this?” (450). The act of looking towards nature to understand the workings of the world reflects the transcendentalist belief that nature can connect everything in the world. Not only that, the land surrounding Penn’s farm is untouched and pure, what Henrietta refers to as “the original splendor” (179). Traditionally transcendentalists believe in the conservation of nature because it is sacred. 

While transcendentalism places a huge emphasis on being self-sufficient from society, it also focuses heavily on individuals joining to form community. Henry tells Penn “I’ve decided I’d like to do more than that. Feed more than us” (465). In this moment, Henry is thinking beyond his family, his lineage and looking to feed other members of his community. Not only that, he is not looking to create a profit, simply to give food to the community outside of his bloodline. Henry reading the excerpt from Henrietta’s notebook exposes him to transcendentalist ideals for this first time. When he meets Penn, he further explores those ideals and begins implementing them into his life.

One final belief of transcendentalists is that people and nature are inherently good and corrupted by institutions. Henry Forge has committed moral crimes against so many people throughout the novel. This being said, at the end of the novel his character evolves to become a better person. His positive change in character signifies that he is no longer corrupted by the institutions that have affected his family since the first Samuel Forge arrived in Kentucky. While it is considered generous to call his character good, he has definitely been transformed by transcendentalism.