Literary Analysis Of The Rocking Horse Winner

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.

Have you ever tried so hard to impress you parents? Have you ever felt like you needed to be something for them? Can you remember a time when you were a kid, and your parents said something that you have never forgotten? Can you ever really impress your parents? Does it feel like you 're doing so much, but they don’t realize it? In the story The Rocking- Horse Winner, by D.H. Lawrence explains how a little boy named Paul tries to prove to his mother that he is lucky. This young man had started to gamble on horse races to make money for his mother, so she would be happy. A young child literally killed himself trying to give his mother the best of everything. The three messages from The Rocking- Horse Winner are, the parents influence, economics, and Luck.

Paul takes to his trusty rocking horse to find answers. He finds these answers by riding his horse until he “gets there”, and knows the winning horse in the upcoming races. After a few successes at the race track, Paul saves up

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.

Theme Discussion: The mother in “ The Rocking Horse Winner” is seemingly the root of all the problems in the story. Without her constant need for money and materialistic possessions, the other members of the family would not feel obligated to please her. The overwhelming need to please others and selflessness are two important factors in this story. Hester, the mother, has a strong need to have the finer things in life. Readers can see from the beginning of the story the strain money puts on the family. Lawrence says, “They read it in each other’s eyes” (Lawrence). From this statement the audience notes how apparent the struggle for money is. Readers can also see how selfless Paul is. He risks his own life for the sake of his mother’s well-being. After “looking into each other’s eyes” and sensing the need for money, Paul takes matters into his own hands. He feels the need to provide for his mother, so he tells the gardner, Bassett, all of his choices for the big races. Lawrence says, “I’ve got to know for the Derby! I’ve got to know for the Derby!”(Lawrence). From this, readers see Paul’s extreme urgency to win more and more money. As time progresses, Paul seems to worry immensely over helping his mother. Eventually, he starts to get sick. One night Hester heard a strange noise, but could not pinpoint it. Lawrence describes this noise saying, “It was a soundless noise”(Lawrence). The author’s use of hyperbole in this sentence makes readers feel almost eerie. Late in the night, the boy dies. The hypothetical “Rocking Horse of Life” is the cause of Paul’s death, even if no one else can distinguish it. Many recent movies carry the theme of selflessness just like “The Rocking Horse Winner”. In The Blind Side, Leigh Anne and Sean Tuohy take in Michael Oher, a football prodigy with awful living conditions. Even though they had an abundance of money and kids of their own, the Tuohy’s took Michael into their home as one of their own. In spite of the dirty looks they would get, the Tuohy’s did not care about their social status; however, they remained selfless and took care of Michael well past his college days.The theme of

The greed for wealth and materialistic objects is an intrinsic component of human nature. It plays a crucial role as motivation for one to work to achieve financial success. However, when one singularly focuses on money and ignores all else, their greed becomes detrimental to their state of mind. People whose ambitions revolve solely around becoming wealthy and successful often ignore other aspects of life that are equally important for happiness, including relationships, health, and personal freedom. As a result, those who manage to obtain material success often find that they are not fulfilled by their riches, and seek to become even more wealthy; however, they can never achieve true satisfaction when they are in this cycle of avarice.

Living behind a façade in life can bring complications to those who value things in life. “The Rocking-Horse Winner” by D.H. Lawrence is a symbolic short story that represents the idea that the more one’s values lie with material goods the less one is able to connect with reality or the intangible tenets of life. This perspective is supported throughout the story by the direct characterization of Hester and Paul, the use of personification and similes and in the rising action to the conclusion’s gradual release of detail.

Written by D.H. Lawrence in 1920, The Rocking-Horse Winner is a short story fairy tale about a young boy who “[takes] on the impossible quest of freeing his mother from a family ‘curse’” (IV). In the story, the mother deems herself as unlucky because she is poor. Lawrence writes that she could not love her children, that her heart would go hard when they were around. Even so, others thought of her as a loving mother who adored her children. “She married for love, and the love turned to dust” (Kirszner pg. 481). The entire first paragraph of the story presents itself as very solemn and full of regret. It sets a sad, mournful tone to the beginning and makes me feel like the house is doomed.

    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.

Lawrence, The Rocking Horse Winner, Page 13. This shows that all he cared about was his mother, he kept repeating mother, and lucky, he wanted her to love him and be proud of him and realize that she is lucky. Little did the mother know he used his gambling to autosomally put money into her account so she could get out of debt. Paul states, "I never told you, mother, that if I can ride my horse, and get there, then I'm absolutely sure --- oh, absolutely !

The main symbol in “The Rocking Horse Winner” by D.H. Lawrence is the rocking house itself. It symbolizes the desire of money and luck that Paul is trying to achieve for his troubling mother. It is represented during horse whispering, “There must be more money! There must be more money!” (Lawrence 97). Hester’s obsession with luxurious appearance is overwhelming which leads to dwindling financial situation in her family. According to Hester, wealth is fulfilled by pure luck. To satisfy Hester’s desire for money and luck, Paul rides the rocking horse to predict the next winner of the race. In return, the flow of money advances over time. Paul’s relationship with his horse toy gets abnormal over time. It suggests that the eagerness to earn

In literature, a symbol suggests that there is more meaning than what it appears to be. In the short story “The Rocking Horse Winner,” D.H Lawrence uses many symbols that relate to the story’s theme and lets readers apply this to their daily lives. Symbols such as the whispering house, the rocking horse, and money allude to a deeper truth found in the text. The story not only relates to the emotional toils Paul’s family encounters, but also brings awareness to the realistic run-ins the world faces today.

“The Rocking Horse Winner” is a short story written by D. H. Lawrence. This story shows readers the uneasy feeling of needing money, anxiety over constant problems, and a young boy’s sense of repayment to his mother. The characters in this story and the situations they deal with are relatable in past times, as well as modern times. Not only does Lawrence prove that pleasing others is not always worthwhile, he takes readers on a journey of stress, attempted help and eventual loss. Through themes such as greed, loss, luck, and the maintenance of social standards, “The Rocking Horse Winner” is a story that shows audiences the ups and downs of life.

The Rocking Horse Winner displays the need for money that many people feel. A family is so desperate to maintain their lifestyle that they associate luck with money and money with luck. It’s a package deal that either comes in pairs or not at all. Without knowing it, Paul’s parents poisoned their children’s minds with the haunting phrase: There must be more money.

Sociological criticism, in my opinion, is extremely important in trying to understand a piece of literary work better. By looking at the influences around the author and in the story one can comprehend why things are happening the way they are. For example, in The Rocking-Horse Winner by D.H. Lawrence, a reader might think at first that Paul is just another kid that wants to help his parents out. However, after reading it through the goggles of a sociological critic I now see the real reasons behind his actions. This type of thinking does not only have to remain in the arena of literary works. One can apply this sort of thought process to everyday life in order to realize how the social culture and climate around us really influence what we