The Rocking Horse Winner Theme Analysis

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 D.H. Lawrence’s The Rocking Horse Winner, Paul is searching for an identity and love. Paul’s mother was incapable of love; “when her children were present, she always felt the centre of her heart go hard.” Paul’s mother desires materialistic possessions and excludes

The Rocking Horse Winner is the story based on a young child Paul and his greedy mother Hester. The author’s tried to give the message that children require love and compassion. Paul’s rocking horse and the whispering of the house represent his evident need for love. Lawrence uses money to prove that avarice and negligence of a mother can contribute to the deterioration of an innocent, young child. Hester thinks that she has no luck. She also think her husband is the unlucky person and she became unlucky after she got married with her husband. She don’t have any love for her children and husband. The only thing Hester love to embrace is money. She wants plenty of money to fulfil her desire. Paul is a young boy who thinks he has luck. Paul is the child who seeks love and happiness. Paul started to bet on horse race to earn money. At the end of the story Paul become sick and died at last. Before his death he used some money in horse race and win the race. He got plenty of money from this race.

They found that children from higher income families and households were advanced over their peers in both reading and cognitive reasoning skills. When we start to see Paul’s irrational and erratic behavior, specifically rocking violently back and forth on a childhood toy at what I assumed was teenage age, one has to question his cognitive and rationalizing skills. He seems to be out of touch with reality and almost entranced by this rocking horse and its fantasy. The rocking horse in fact was one of those extravagant gifts given to Paul and his sisters at Christmas. It’s ironic to me that this gift ultimately plays a large part in Paul’s unraveling and undoing.

Lawrence shows many points by applying these obvious symbols: the rocking horse and the whispering house. The wooden rocking horse symbolizes the fantasy quest that Paul takes to attain luck. This magical mysterious wooden horse also tells Paul who will win the horse races. The whispering house symbolizes his mother’s lust for money. The house constantly haunts Paul and his siblings with the

D.H. Lawrence is representing that the greed of wanting money leads to insanity and unhappiness. The text states,”So the child cried, trying to get up and urge the rocking horse that gave him his inspiration.” In this text the symbolism is that the rocking horse represents the possession the rocking horse has acquired over Paul. In the text it says “Paul is urging” this non living object. Therefore, this proves that Paul has lost grasp of his insanity and lost his authority of his greed. If money wasn’t Paul’s only goal, then he wouldn’t feel like he needed permission from an inanimate object to stop. His greed for money

“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.

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

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.

In the “The Rocking-Horse Winner” the authority figures is Paul, the main characters, are his mom, his uncle Oscar Creswell, and Bassett. Paul has a conversation with his mother about how unlucky she is, sees her sadness and gets into betting on horse racing so that he can get money. His uncle encouraged the gambling because he provided Paul with the money when Paul went to his first horse race. Even though Bassett has not family relation with Paul they end up being gambling partners, he is still an authority figure because of his age and experience on betting in horse races. With the settings and people who are in control, the characters in “The Lottery” and “The Rocking-Horse Winner” and their personal experiences and thoughts play a role in why they act differently. In ‘The Lottery” Tessie’s family became selfish at the end even though she was screaming that the lottery was not fair. Bill immediately turned on his wife to save himself (Jackson, 71). In “The Rocking-Horse Winner” Paul, who is only a young boy, hears from his mother that his father is unlucky and that she is unlucky because she married a man that cannot make any money (Lawrence, 174). When Paul heard that he decided on his own that he was going to be the lucky one for his mother so that she could be happy. Also the house was whispering to him and his sisters that it needs more money, instead of telling his parents he resolves that he is going to be the person to make money and feed the house. Conclusively, the main characters in “the Lottery” by Shirley Jackson are not compassionate, they are cold-hearted, and only look out for themselves even when their family is in need of help or in trouble. One of the main characters Paul in “The Rocking-Horse Winner” by D. H. Lawrence becomes fully aware of his family’s problems and tries to make his mom and the house happy. The surroundings, the authority figures and someone’s own point of view shapes the way they act towards their family in times of stress for the better or worse.

Paul feels completely isolated home, which is where he should feel safe and secure. He feels as though he needs to hide who he is to prevent facing his father. After Paul comes home late from work he attempts to sneak in, for the fear of facing his father makes him nervous and visibly uncomfortable, showing his complete disconnect. “Then, again, suppose a day should come when his father would remember that night and wish there had been no warning cry to stay his hand?” (Cather). Paul feels so isolated from his father that he contemplates whether or not his dad wants him alive. The secluded nature of Paul’s personality informs the reader on how Paul may be struggling with who he is, not only in his father’s eyes, but in his own as well. The reader can tell that Paul is lonely, and the theater is his only means of escape. The grandeur lifestyle intrigues him and that is something his father will never understand. The attachment and pleasure he gets from viewing the upscale, rich art brings him so much happiness, his father does not understand that huge part of his life; ultimately, leading to their broken

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 Rocking Horse Winner” is a short story written by D.H Lawrence that follows the short and tragic life of a boy named Paul, who assumes he has amazing luck after realizing he can predict racehorse winners by furiously riding his rocking horse until he reaches a trance-like state. Unfortunately, as his family takes advantage of his gift and starts gaining more money, Paul’s luck begins to kill him. Literally. Throughout the story, there are several themes evident, such as wealth, life, conscious, existence; luck, family, and greed. The conflicts displayed are man vs man, man vs self, and man vs. society. The rocking horse has become an obsession for paul and the potential benefits it would have on his family, ultimately not knowing the actual harm it will cause.

Paul aspires for a true relationship with his family and this dream leads to his death. The first example of the mothers greediness leading to her death is when Paul says, "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." This quote shows the intimacy between mother and son. Although Paul was not always treated well he stays strong and does what he can to make his mother gain what she wants most in life which is luck. Unfortunately, Paul does not succeed in the log run. After continuing to ride his rocking horse, Paul begins to look weaker and weaker, as the horse drains all the energy from him. The second example describes what occurs vividly, “He hardly heard what was spoken to him, he was very weak, and had a strange look in his eyes. His mother started to really worry about him. Sometimes, for a short time, she would feel a sudden anxiety about him that was almost painful. She wanted to go to him at once, and know he was safe.” (11) After Paul begins to look weak and pale, his mother finally realizes the value of her son. She begins to act as a real mother would do feeling worried and anxious about her son, this anxiety is described as painful. This is ironic because Paul has been dealing with this throughout the short story. Sadly, the mother realizes this to late because her son

The Rocking Horse Winner, by D.H. Lawrence, is an informative story about luck and one's own fortune.  In this story, Lawrence attempts to illustrate how one can guide one's own fate, instead of allowing things to happen by chance.  He believes that the only person that affects what happens to someone, is really that person himself.  "Everything is what you make of it," is Lawrence's message to the reader.  By his use of characterization, instructional images, and irony in The Rocking Horse Winner, D.H. Lawrence attempts to convey to the reader that success and luck are not something that one simply waits for to arrive, but things that one must works to achieve.