In The Rocking-Horse Winner (1933), a short story written by D. H. Lawrence, the reader finds out about “Paul’s” struggle and his family’s desire for luck. How the young boy would pick race winners by riding his toy horse. In Jack London’s To Build a Fire (1910) the reader engages in a horrific snowstorm plot the “man” soon finds himself trying to outwit. Destined, regardless of environmental factors he commands himself to journey across the frozen tundra towards his mining camp. “Although Paul and the Man’s stories take place in different settings and each show a distinct motive, they both share a similar fate” If I could use an example to describe both character’s journey from beginning to end I would use a triangle. Both characters are worlds apart from each other but are leveled by a similar struggle. This forms the first connecting points of a triangle, the base-line connecting two opposite points across. In order to compare both characters we have to begin with their struggle. The character “Paul,” had been battling the ongoing whispers that resonated throughout the house, as the passage states, “ And then the house whispers, like people laughing at you behind your back. It’s awful, that is! I thought if I was lucky-” (D. H. Lawrence 156). In order to stop these voices, which are the outcome of Paul’s mother’s desire to live beyond her means causing the family to always be short of money, young Paul must ride his rocking-horse to a point of exhaustion [mentally and
The short story that has the best quality off literary fiction would be, The Rocking-Horse Winner by D H Lawrence, a story about a young boy trying to win his mother’s love by seeking the luck she thinks she does not have also, wanting to give her the luxurious lifestyle she dreams of by betting on horse races he begins to make money to hopefully make everything better. This short story represents setting, plot, theme, symbol and character very well. Without these main points of emphasis being made a short story would have no structure so that’s what I feel is most important.
Today I will be discussing the prevalent theme in the novel of Paul's journey to reach maturity, the importance other characters whom he interacts with played in the development of his character and
The setting of the story acts as a counterpart of Paul’s illness and as the different ‘states’ that Paul enters due to his bi-polarity. In Pittsburgh, we are given two contrasting places; Paul’s neighbourhood in Cordelia Street and Carnegie Hall. Cordelia Street represents normativity and Paul’s sanity while Carnegie Hall, as his temporary escape, and represents the elite, the cultured and fundamentally,
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.
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
In both stories, the authors use symbolism to show the reader the impact that the characters’ surroundings had on them. Paul reacted by running away and trying to make his dream world a reality. In the end, he decided that he would rather end his life than to return to the mundane lifestyle he left behind. The narrator of
“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.
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.
the love and care he unknowingly needs. Paul takes on roles that disguise his own traits and turns him into what he believes to be a person nobody can say no to. When he takes on these roles, he
Paul has got an old university friend, a character who is very important for this book. His name is Ed Finnerty. He is the fatal character for Paul because he is the one who makes Paul realize his real position and all the people's real positions. He is
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.
Paul was a young man. He was getting a teacher’s education. He was a good student and a wonderful sportsman. He lived with his mother, Mrs Burgess, in Belfast. She was quite unsociable and reserved. The first five years of his life Paul had spent in the North of England. He had very good relations with his father, Rees; they loved to spend time together. Later his family moved to Wortley. When they lived there, his father died because of a railway accident. Soon after
“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`s life is in chaos as he is attempting to uproot his entire life by creating a façade to appeal to the white upper-class. It is this façade, however, that gives Paul control in his life as he is finally able to belong to a family with the Kittredges. This imbalance in Paul`s life causes him to be an Other because he has changed his entire life to simply swindle wealthy whites.
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.