Analysis Of The Poem ' Rocking Horse Winner '

“The Rocking-Horse Winner” is a short story by the English novelist, essayist and literary critic D.H. Lawrence. It represents how the author cautions about the negative effects of materialism, as it can never fully satisfy the human need and will eventually end in tragedy and unhappiness. Lawrence does so through the archetypes of the terrible mother, the hero, and the anti-wise old man.

In the short story “The Rocking-Horse Winner”, by David Herbert Lawrence, there is this family, as the family wants to keep their economic status, the mom want’s to have money all the time. The Mom has a mental mindset of the family being rich, as she believes that she has money, but in reality, the family is not rich and they have no money as they are in debt. The mom is unhappy as the parent's marriage is unsatisfactory, the mom thought she was lucky before she got married to her husband, so she thinks that her husband gave her bad luck. Both parents have no luck. The mom does not like her own children. The mom tells his son Paul, that she and Dad have no luck. This short story has many secrets that various of the characters keep from one another. In “The Rocking-Horse Winner”, the theme is a Moral Obligation as Hester the mom does not like her kids and only her and the kids know, Paul keeps from his mom that him, uncle Oscar, and Bassett have been betting on horse races and that the “Rocking-Horse” gives Paul luck.

In indian horse,Saul goes through a lot of issues and problems.In the end he ends up realizing that they helped him get to who he is today. Topic

Social status often establishes one 's credibility and integrity within a society. The power that social status has, encourages people to heavily focus on it. With this focus on social status ever pressing, one’s identity often gets intertwined with and reliant on their place in the hierarchy of society. People become fixated on one idea they have of a person in a certain social class, that anybody who breaks out of specific stereotypes may often cause anger amongst others. In the short story “Greenleaf” by Flannery O’Connor, the main character, Mrs. May, is obsessive about the way others perceive her and her place in society. Mr. May’s identity is so strictly tied to her desire to get to a higher social class and her notions how society

An example in text of Lucy feeling disgraceful is in this next quote where she talks directly to the reader. “I should tell you right now how I got to where I am: single mother on the door, public housing, all that. It wasn’t a goal of mine, certainly.”-Pg15 As Lucy tells the story of her having a child she talks about how embarrassing and painful it is to be in her situation. She speaks of how she never dreamed for this and that she had other plans but in the end she has failed herself. Later in the story Lucy has to go to a dole appointment. While she is there she talks about how the workers there recognize that she is of lower class and it disgusts the worker at the desk. “With the puke now on his pants and one boot missing he looked horrible, and I think seeing him depressed the dole staff. Anyway, they got me in and out of there pretty quickly.” Pg-50 At the end of this quote she says that they got her in and out really quick, thinking that the staff wanted her out as fast as they could so they didn’t have to deal with her because they didn’t want her there because her lower class, grossed them out making her feel like a stain on society. Seeing this Lucy takes into account that just because she’s a single mom people start thinking of her differently adding onto her insecurities. Amir also faces the feelings of disgrace, for example in this quote

The women of the story are not treated with the respect, which reflects their social standings. The first image of the women that the reader gets is a typical housewife. They are imaged as “wearing faded house dresses and

“The author's work is known for its explorations of human nature and illustrates the nature of materialism” (Jones). Throughout life, we are constantly developing who we are as people. As we grow, we grasp hold of things we wish to portray ourselves with. In doing so, we create ourselves as humans. In this philosophy that has been developed, we base how we are raised in order to develop who we become in the long run. Over time, we receive knowledge pertaining to who we wish to become. In the story story “The Rocking Horse Winner” written by D. H. Lawrence, we are taken to a questionable development of humans in an equally disturbing adventure. In this short story, there are many messages that can be traced throughout.

In his essay, “Horse and Gentlemen,” T.H. Breen describes the cultural significance of gambling, specifically in relation to the quarter-horse races, in late 17th century Virginia. Breen primarily argues that the three main aspects of gambling – competitiveness, materialism, and individualism – reflected and reinforced the socio-economic structure of Virginia in this period. The high stakes wagers of the affluent planters reinforced their dominant status in the social structure and the gentry’s right to rule over this colony. Breen’s argument to this effect is supported by letters, court transcripts, documentation of wagers, and other written first-hand accounts. Breen’s case for the cultural significance of gambling has persuasive arguments for its representation of competitiveness and materialism. However, his argument for individualism has contrary elements and his essay would have been improved with the inclusion of women’s role in the gambling culture.

When a person is lucky, it does not have to mean that they are fortunate with money. Luck is the chance for things to go the way you want them to go with out having any control over the situation. In The Rocking Horse Winner, Hester, the mother seems to believe that luck is strictly having money, and when there is no money, there is no luck. Hester's idea of luck meaning money brings forth the two ideas of greed and death throughout the story.

Helga Crane cannot be happy because of the expectation for modesty by women of color in fashion. Women employed at Naxos were disciplined to not complement their skin tones. Instead, they are encouraged to dress in “drab colors” (51). The expectation to blend in and not draw attention to themselves exists because women should not flatter their bodies or have the autonomy to make decisions for themselves. Toward the end of her journey in Harlem, she is still subject to objectification due to her choice of dress when a church lady calls her a “a scarlet ‘oman” insinuating her choice of clothing made her a prostitute (141). The men in Quicksand and society are not sexualized for their fashion statements yet women are. Thus, being unable to express herself without facing objectification prevents Helga from being happy.

Certain individuals have a drive that can lead them to achieve what they desire most. In the Short story “The Rocking Horse Winner”, D.H Lawrence showcases this through character motivation and symbolism. He further this using pursuit of desire, and how if you take it to a certain extent it can result in tragedy if the individual chooses not to conform. Paul wants to please his mother because his mother feels that there family has no luck, but Paul proclaims that he is lucky. Paul suddenly becomes consumed with this sudden spree of good luck and feels this is the only way he will be able to gain to the affection of his mother. D.H Lawrence reveals that Paul has a certain flaw that turns him to believe that the only way he will be able to gain his mothers love and affection is by winning money in the horse races. He leads this pursuit of desire to the standards he thought he wanted to, but not to the standards that would have achieved what he wanted, which leads to his down fall. When individuals desire love from another, they may choose to conform their beliefs and actions to that person. At first they may feel successful, however if they sacrifice everything, in pursuing this kind of goal, they may pay a heavy price instead of gaining there hearts desire.

    The plot in "The Rocking-Horse Winner" by D. H. Lawrence reveals to the reader conflicts between Paul and his mother using different levels or forms of secrecy. There are secrets hidden throughout the house that leads Paul and his mother to an unpleasant life. The first level of secrecy is the actual secrets that Paul and Paul's mother keep from each other. The second form of secrecy is that D. H. Lawrence uses a story telling style of writing. This way of writing in itself holds many secrets. Finally, the third level of secrecy is through the use of symbolism.

Hi, I am Zinal Patel. I am a Saltfleet student going into Grade 10. I totally loved my first year at this school and I hope the next three will be the same! All the courses I have took so far have been interesting and enjoyable. The past year I have put in a lot of hard work to get good marks in my courses so I hope to do the same for this specific course. I understand the expectations of this course so I will commit to at least 1-2 hours of learning each day. Also, I will make my best efforts towards completing this course with a high mark and a great experience.

Over time, society has developed into a widely accepted culture that spreads implied rules, guidelines, and principles on how people should conduct their lives. In order to follow the expectations of society, a person must be dedicated to acting in a manner that they are accepted by others. This results in a lack of lasting accomplishment since society’s customs can fluctuate, so a persons dedication to following societal norms to gain acceptance by others are now non-existent. On the contrary, people who have dedicated there life to a specific goal or cause may contradict society’s imposed customs, but will ultimately achieve their goal and have lasting success. In D.H. Lawrence’s “The Rocking Horse Winner”, Paul is determined to

Rocking-Horse Winner by D.H.Lawrence is an interesting story about a boy and his rocking-horse that suddenly makes him very lucky. The main boy in the story first begins to bet on racing horses and while no one finds out until the end of the poem but his secret to his success is the rocking-horse in his room. Many factors come into play as the story begins causing this young boy to invest in horse racing. These defining factors are what make up the poem and give it the right character needed. As William Charles William put it, “A poem is a small machine made of words... its movement is intrinsic, undulant, a physical more than a literary character”. D.H.Lawrence provides and defines that character perfectly in his poem, Rocking-Horse Winner.