As a child I owned a hobby-horse that my father bought me for Christmas in the year of 1995. I remember the racket the springs made as I imagined I was a sheriff chasing down the railroad bandits. I was obsessed and played on the horse every day. The noise would drive my parents crazy, but they knew that was what I did every day. A child with a wild imagination such as myself became one with my made up characters during play time, in my mind I was that cowboy sheriff every minute of every day. When Tristram speaks about toby and hobby-horses in his retrospect narrative, he identifies them as two things in one, a pair. “A man and his HOBBY-HORSE, tho’ I cannot say that they act and re-act exactly after the same manner in which the soul and body do upon each other: Yet doubtless there is a communication between them of some kind … so that if you are able to give but a clear description of the nature of the one, you may form a pretty exact notion of the genius and character of the other” (Sterne, 61). These hobby-horses are what define characters in this novel, for instance in Tristram’s example of Uncle Toby. He is totally obsessed with re-enacting the battle where his manhood was fatally wounded. Toby has gone so deep into war fortifications that it has become who he is and what he is known for. Psychologically there is a link between this life changing event where he lost his penis and who it has made him become, but nonetheless it is his identity. There is also the example of Walter Shandy who has his own Hobby-horse throughout the text but essentially his is planning and arguing. There are an abundance of examples throughout the text reflecting this characteristic of Mr. Shandy, it’s referenced as a characteristic because it is a part of his being, not just a mood or passing behavior. His contract with his wife over the location of the delivery of his son was quite odd. It was of such importance that he may have his way, and have his way planned out on a legal form. This may sound ridiculous to one but again this is Mr. Shandy’s Hobby-horse and his identity. This footnote is originally found on page ten, but it is a reoccurring topic throughout volume 1 thus cannot be fully assessed from just one reference. In this primary reference Tristram is essentially establishing is that a person may have a hobby-horse and it is totally acceptable “so long as a man rides his HOBBY-HORSE peaceably and quietly along the king’s highway, and neither compels you or me to get up behind him” (Sterne, 10) This statement is upheld later in the novel because a major theme is the acceptance of who someone really is; the acceptance of a person and their hobby horse as one. All of Mr. Shandy’s desires in life for his son Tristram will not shape or create the person who he is suppose to be but rather Tristam finds who he is despite his father intentions and rides his own hobby horse.
Works Cited
Sterne, Laurence, and Ian Campbell. Ross. The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2009. Print.
This is very similar to the hobby horse that I used to play as a child. I found this on Ebay.com for sale….It is tempting but I’m sure I’ll break it.