In class,
we discussed Gunnar telling Scoby in a letter that he “sympathize[s] with these
animals ‘cause this place makes [him] feel like a racehorse” (Beatty 146). The
more I thought about this passage, the more I realized how many ways it could
apply to Gunnar.
Let’s first
think about racehorses. Racehorses are used for entertainment purposes, usually
with people betting on the outcome of races. They are constantly trained and
looked after carefully to make sure they are in good physical condition.
Certain breeds of horses are seen as better for the sport, having more agility
or whatever traits that are needed. The racehorses make a lot of money for
their owners but are only valuable to those owners for a certain amount of
time. While racehorses may have a brief claim to fame, they are generally forgotten
as they fade out of the spotlight. Several horses are euthanized as they get
injuries too great to recover from, such as breaking a leg. Doesn’t sound so
great for the horses, does it?
Now think
about basketball. Basketball is a form of entertainment, probably one that
several of us enjoy watching. A stereotype seen in Beatty’s book and present
today is that black people are better at basketball. Gunnar is constantly
pushed and monitored to be at his best level for each game. While playing
college basketball, Gunnar isn’t really getting much benefit from it, instead, others
make money through his efforts. We see all of these colleges trying to recruit
him, but each college just wants to be the one to profit from Gunnar’s talent.
However, just like racehorses, basketball players slow down and many get
forgotten, becoming discarded as their talent is no longer the same as it was.
This paragraph unfortunately echoes many of the things of the prior paragraph.
What we see
in basketball and racehorses is this system where the people who benefit are
not those putting in the effort. The owners get money and the fans get the
enjoyment of watching the sport. In some cases like Gunnar’s, the people (or
horses) don’t actually want to be playing for all these people but end up in
that situation because of their talent. One interesting thing with racehorses
is that certain breeds are seen as being better racehorses which reminds me of
the whole notion of African-Americans being better at basketball, or athletics
in general. In both of these cases, I see somebody being exploited for the
benefit for others. What was first read by me as a casual comment seems to be
so true on so many levels its surprising. It makes me just wonder how many
other hidden meanings I missed while reading the novel. Maybe I’m looking too
deep into this. What do you think?
