The Rocking Horse Winner Short Story Essay

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.

“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.

These two stories have many surface level similarities, but very glaring differences in the implicated meaning of these stories. Both seem to show a man, running away from home for a short time to complete some sort of errand. Both also result in the changing of said man, although much less Rip Van Winkle, into something a little less desirable. Young Goodman Brown loses all faith in his life and humanity, therefore making the rest of his life miserable, and

Although the stories’ main components mirror each other, they still differentiate. For example, in “The Devil and Tom Walker,” everyone believes Tom has made a deal with the devil, whereas in “Young Goodman Brown,” the author questions the actuality of the night’s events: “Had Goodman Brown fallen asleep in the forest and only dreamed a wild dream of a witch-meaning?” Even if the incidents never did transpire, Goodman Brown could not return to his Christian life. On the other hand, Tom Walker tried living a Christian life again, but the devil still carried him off. The protagonists’ relationship with their wives also varied between the stories. Goodman Brown loved his seemingly innocent wife, Faith; while Tom Walker hated his termagant wife and though he

In both “The Rocking Horse Winner” by D.H. Lawrence and “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson, the authors take critical aim at two staples of mainstream values, materialism and tradition respectively. Both authors approach these themes through several different literary devices such as personification and symbolism; however, it is the authors' use of characterization that most develop their themes. We'll be taking a look at the parallel passages in the stories that advance their themes particularly when those passages involve both of the authors' subtle character descriptions, and why this method of character development is so powerful in conveying the authors' messages.

In “The Rocking-Horse Winner” we are introduced to a woman who author D.H Lawrence states, “was beautiful, who started with all the advantages, yet she had no luck. She married for love, and the love turned to dust. She had bonny children, yet she felt they had been thrust upon her, and she could not love them.” When I dive into the psychology behind that statement, I come up with a thought that this beginning draws similarities to Lawrence’s own upbringing with his coal miner father and schoolteacher mother. Similarly the mother in “The Rocking-Horse Winner” is disenchanted with her marriage and the way her life

Many events led up to him losing his faith and being consumed with self-doubt, but the one that finally pushed Goodman Brown over the edge to call onto the devil was when he could not find his wife Faith. The line “‘But where is Faith?’ thought Goodman Brown; and, as hope came into his heart, he trembled.” shows

“The Rocking-Horse Winner,” by D.H. Lawrence is a fictional story about a woman’s obsession for money and the lack of love and affection she shows to her family. Her son Paul hopes to change his mother’s mind-set in order to gain her love by becoming lucky. Paul discovers a way to become lucky from a rocking horse that he receives as a Christmas present. He perceives that this horse has magical powers,

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

In both stories the similarity made between the two works was in the beginning, Tom Walker and Goodman Brown both doubted the Devil’s intuition. In the work of Young Goodman Brown, states, “Having kept covenant by meeting thee here, it is my purpose now to return whence I came. I have scruples touching the matter thou wot’st of”(Hawthorne). Goodman Brown happens to be doubting the Devil and is contemplating on whether he should turn around and go home. In The Devil and Tom Walker, Irving states that “Tom never disclosed them publicly. They must have been very hard, for the required time to think of them, and he was not a man to stick at trifles when money was in view” (Irving 115). Corresponding with Young Goodman Brown, Tom Walker had to think about the negotiation, and what was being offered. However, even though both works portray similarities within their works, they ended up with different results. Tom Walker shows the difference by expressing his thoughts on the offer, “What proof have I that all you have been telling me is true?” said Tom. “There’s my signature.” said the black man, pressing his fingers to Tom’s forehead” (Irving 115) Tom Walker is considering on taking the deal

In “The Rocking-Horse Winner” the mother is quite obsessed with the fact that she does not have enough money, even though she spends lavishly on materialistic things. She whispers to herself constantly about not having enough money, thus giving Paul the impression that he needs to do something in order to make her happy. The story mysteriously unfolds with Paul riding a magical horse that gives him prophetic visions of which horse would win the Epsom Derby. At first it seems like an interesting idea, but eventually Paul obsesses over money exactly like his mother. In the very end of this story, Paul dies from convulsions. Paul chooses the winning horse in the race, but he ends up losing his

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 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

“The Rocking-Horse Winner” is a short story by D. H. Lawrence in which he creates a criticism of the modernized world’s admiration and desire for material objects. It was published in Harper’s Bazaar magazine in 1926 for the first time (E-Notes). The story’s main character, Hester, is a beautiful woman who is completely consumed by the idea of possession, and so she loses out on the love of family and the happiness of life. Her son, Paul, also learns to love wealth because of his negligent mother, constantly hearing the “whispers” of empty pockets in their home. D. H. Lawrence uses the relationship between Paul and Hester and their money in “The Rocking-Horse Winner” to show the shortcomings

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.