D.H. Lawrence’s The Rocking-Horse Winner, and Graham Green’s The Destructors

There are many differences and similarities between Graham Green’s “The destructors” and D.H. Lawrence’s “Rocking-Horse Winner.” “The Destructors” has flat characters, which strive to be the first gang to destroy a home, in efforts to prove themselves to other gangs in the area. In this story, they set out to demolish Old Misery’s gorgeous home. While in “The Rocking-Horse Winner,” Paul’s goal is to help his family become wealthy. Another difference is that the setting of "The Destructors" is in Great Britain. The story takes place after the bombing occurred during World War one, where many buildings were destroyed, and many families were forced into poverty because of the war. The setting of "Rocking Horse Winner" is a neighborhood near Baltimore, Maryland.

In both stories, the main characters are young boys, who have very different personalities. Paul, in "Rocking-Horse Winner" is an innocent boy, who does not know much about the world around him. Paul’s mother lacks the ability to love, and feels that she is “truly lucky in many ways” (Lesson 7 outline). Moreover, she had expensive taste, desired to have nice things, and wanted to maintain a good social standing in her community. His desire to help his mother was the driving force for her young son, Paul. His ambition, which was driven by his desire to be lucky, depicts a moral message for the Christian reader. Paul was a spiritually empty child, who could have turned to God, instead of relying on luck, to achieve his goals. In "The Destructors," the main character "T,” short for Trevor, was raised in a wealthy English family, but then was forced into poverty after the war. Because of the tragedies in his life, he joined a gang, and began a rebellious stage against all that h...

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...n’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions” (Luke 12:15, NIV).

Works Cited

Berger, K. (2008). The developing person: Through the life span. New York, NY: Worth Publishers.

Greene, G. The Destructors. (PDF document). Retrieved from Lecture Notes Online Web Site: http://www.bb8.liberty.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp

Kennedy, X.J. and Dana, G. (2010). Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing: Compact Interactive Edition 6th Edition. New York, NY: Pearson.

Lawrence, D.H. The Rocking-Horse Winner. (PDF document). Retrieved from Lecture Notes Online Web Site: http://www.bb7.liberty.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp

Myers, D. (2010). Psychology 9th Edition. New York, NY: Worth Publishers

The Holy Bible, New International Version. (1996). Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishers.