Rocking-Horse Winner

D.H. Lawrence uses a symbolism to show the fruitlessness of the pursuit of material wealth. The rocking horse can never move forward, no matter how much Paul rides it. The horse can only rock back and forth, never making any progression toward its end goal. The horse seems to have special abilities that Paul puts to use to foresee the future; the consequences of Paul using these powers are revealed at the end showing that it is a deal with the devil situation. “Something huge, in violent, hushed motion.” Paul rigorously has to ride the horse. Soon after, he falls unconscious and mutters the name of the next winning horse. The uncle after the boy passes away compares the situation with the devil:”poor devil, poor devil, he’s best gone out of a life where he rides his rocking horse to find a winner.” Paul was so desperate to try to win his mom’s love that he would do anything

In the movie "Rocking-Horse Winner" Hester is depicted as a loving and self-sacrificing mother. When the Uncle Oscar refuses to give the mother any more money, she takes her favorite garments to a local tailor. She then proceeds to sell them and a suitcase for an unfair price. In the movie Hester is very concerned when Paul's brain starts swelling. She tries to convince him to go away to the country, however he persuades her to let him stay until after the derby. When Paul goes into the coma-like state his mother sits at his bedside and cries when he dies. After Paul dies Hester wants nothing to do with the money, she even tells Bassett to burn it. The heartless Hester in the written story never shed a tear when Paul died.

Hester tells Paul that luck is “what causes you to have money. If you’re lucky you have money. That’s why it’s better to be born lucky than rich. If you’re rich you may lose money. But if you’re lucky, you will always have money.” (236) This pushes Paul to desperately seek out luck so that his mother will be grateful for her life and provide her family with the love and affection that they so rightfully deserve. Paul believes his rocking horse is full of magical powers, which will help him achieve the luck he needs to gain his mother’s love. While Paul rides his rocking horse, the horse predicts the winning horse and ends up making Paul an appalling amount of money. Paul gives his winnings to his mother who squanders it on unnecessary materialistic things. He realizes that he must win more money to win his mother’s affections. He becomes mad and frantically searches for the next winner of the horse races. On Paul’s last ride to find the last winner of the horse race, he falls of the horse and eventually dies.

There are people in this world who think that money can give them anything. This can be food to water to ease and joy. Consequently, they comprehend that money will have a life filled with ease and happiness. But what you don’t visualize is that building these thoughts will lead to an obsessive, joyless, person going the extra mile to get that cash. Why this is unacceptable I might add is where is the ease and the joy you endured obsessively to have? Suffering long hours so you have ease but have no time to rest. Tolerating days of labor to find happiness, but find yourself empty when you have nothing to show yourself for it. D.H. Lawrence demonstrates this perfectly in his short story by including foreshadowing and symbolism, “The Rocking

her lack of luck. Hester’s son, Paul, believes he is lucky and wants to earn her

Paul gets Bassett, his "young gardener, who had been wounded in the left foot in the war and had been batman for Oscar Creswell" (pg. 649), to keep him posted on the racing events and starts winning money with the first ten shilling note he receives from uncle Oscar . By the time Uncle Oscar learns about Paul's gambling habits, Paul had made about 1560 pounds. After the Leger event Paul had made 10560 pounds which he considered a considerable amount and gave half of it to his mother to drive that haunting phase away. Hester was supposed to be getting a thousand pounds every year for the next five years on her birthdays. Hester's greed however insisted on getting the five thousand all at once which is then used to decorate the house and send the kids to good schools

In “The Rocking Horse Winner” by D. H. Lawrence, an immense amount of attention is poured towards the focus of money. Today, who someone is depends drastically upon the amount of money they have. Sadly, money determines who you are before you even realize it. The same idea is developed into this story. An essay says, “While his father is a hard worker, he does not bring in enough money to satisfy the expensive tastes of the latter’s wife. Because of this, Paul’s mother resents her husband and makes it clear that she wants more monetary benefits out of life” (Pierce). Although she may not realize it, Paul’s mother is beginning to demand so much of her husband that it not only wears out her husband, but continually rubs off onto Paul. Paul becomes so bothered by the thought that his family has little to none money, and his only desire is to change that feeling for his family. He begins to realize that he wants nothing but money for his family so they can experience life in such a way that they are able to enjoy what they have and obtain more. As Paul is growing up amid such an issue, he begins to realize that no matter what he is doing, he is constantly being reminded that his family is destitute. “He was looking so extraordinarily foolish for no other reason but that he heard the secret whisper all over the house: “There must be more money” (Page 1248). Given the circumstances, everything that Paul did reminded him subtly about the family issue. Because of

Thesis Statement-The Rocking-Horse Winner” and “The Lottery” delivers two different uses of the conflict, theme, and tone. Though, the authors use some similar approaches to grab the reader’s attention by the things the characters do, say and want. The conflict in the two short stories are diverse in almost every way, yet they both lead to the death of a character in the end. In “The Rocking Horse Winner” the conflict of the story was instantly clear. The struggle relates to the Monetary challenges of the family. The need to gain more money lies at the middle of all the conflict that arises in the story. Paul knows his mother desires more money, which encourages him to try to be “lucky”. Paul can foresee the winning race horse after riding his rocking horse. Which lead to Paul covertly betting on horse races, and his uncle and Basset the gardener teaming up with him. Paul got money for his mother; but in the end, it wasn’t enough. The pressure began to effect Paul, as he is determined to make more money. Paul’s obsession with

Eventually the luck, or in this case, the unluck, had to run out, and it did. Paul's continual confusion leads him to find his "luck" of know the winning horses. Paul is successful at reaching this goal and fulfilling his mother's definition of luck. The whole belief of his mother's was the basis for Paul's confusion. Good luck for Paul would be to see his mother happy. He knew that money was what made her happy. According to

The atmosphere within the setting of “The Rocking-Horse Winner,” was also one of depression, stress, anxiety and fear. Although not all the symptoms were present in all of the characters, Paul’s mother was the one that had all the symptoms due to the lack of money. Paul and his other siblings had fear as on of their symptoms when that house started saying, “There must be more money,” one

Whereas Paul “boy’s rocking” is lead to think luck is money and money is needed to keep the family in their social standing. For example, “He went off by himself, vaguely, in a childish way, seeking for the clue to “luck,” Absorbed, taking no heed of other people, he went about with a sort of stealth, seeking inwardly for luck. He wanted luck, he wanted it, he wanted it.” (Kennedy and Gioia, 2013, pp. 237). Paul uses his abilities to provide for the family. In doing this he tries to assume his father’s role in the attempt to please his mother and the household’s constant whispering the need for more money. “I started it for mother. She said she had no luck, because father is unlucky, so I thought if I was lucky, it might stop whispering” (Kennedy and Gioia, 2013, pp. 240). And even as Paul is dying he is still consumed with trying fill the role of a provider for his mother, “I never told you, mother, that if I can ride my horse and get there, then I’m absolutely sure – oh, absolutely! Mother, did I ever tell you? I am lucky! […] But the boy died in the night.” (Kennedy and Gioia, 2013, pp. 245). Paul’s death was a sacrifice to please his mother, who put her desires for money and material things above the love of her children.

The role of money is merely to buy attention. Hester wants to use it to buy acceptance in the higher classes, and Paul wants to use it to buy his mother’s affection. The attention the characters seek is only superficial, however. The attention is based on outward signs of prosperity. Hester’s family is considered the best on the block because everything they own looks rich and expensive, but they are in great debt. Hester’s compassion for Paul is also based on this money- presents are the only things that show her love. This never stops Hester from pushing for more luxuries in an attempt to win this false admiration. Of course, in the end, Hester’s vanity will cost them

When Paul goes into the coma-like state his mother sits at his bedside and cries when he dies. After Paul dies Hester wants nothing to do with the money, she even tells Bassett to burn it. The heartless Hester in the written story never shed a tear when Paul died.

Paul desire his mother’s love more than anything. However he believes he needs to prove he is lucky. He struggles to prove that he is to make his mother happy. Paul wants his mother to love him more than anything. For Paul’s mother money equals luck, and this will gain her love. “There must be more money”(19). He hears these voices throughout the house. They hear these voices when hey are receiving items of joy, especially around Christmas time. The other children can hear the voices and so can the rocking horse Paul received. Even though they can hear the voices they do not say anything. This is due to the fact that every one is used to it so it would be like saying “we are breathing”(20). This led Paul to realizes that there family is in debt and he believes that in order for them to get out of this debt, he has to take action. This shows that he is willing to take the problem into his own hands because he believes that no one else can do anything about

In Rocking Horse Winner Lawrence brings up some questions about economics. In the story the little boys mother tells her son that they aren’t lucky because they don’t have any money. Even though the family has money they don't have enough for how they are choosing to live. To their family money matters. “Money is essential for living, but insufficient for striving”(Tatzel). This quote states that money indeed is important to survive but you don't need a lot, just enough to get you by. In the story the mom wants more. She is never happy with how much she has, because she doesn't have enough. In the story children hear the house speaking to them saying “there must be more money”(pg.1248). This is proving that there are economic questions a rising. The