Rocking Horse Winner

872 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Critical analysis of the "rocking horse winner

The Rocking Horse Winner:
PLOT:
The kid Paul belongs to a poor family and his mother keeps on distressing for money all the time. He loves to ride horses and dreams about horse races. One day Paul’s uncle, Oscar come out to know that he has been making money by betting on the horse race. One day, they go to the race and Paul picks the winner and Oscar becomes rich. After gathering money, Paul decides to give some portion to his mother. With the help of family lawyer, Paul bestows 5000 pounds to his mother. In spite of having too much money, there is vociferous rumble for more money. This thing makes Paul mad and scared. Observing Paul’s fretfulness, she wants him to go to seaside and rest. But he solicits her to let him postpone until the Derby. …show more content…

Acquisitiveness is not the most important object in life. The little boy, Paul is struggling for money and luck and he achieved it but he died. The mother gets her needs and desires fulfilled, which she badly wanted but lost her son in that course. She was unable to show her love to the kids and husband, because of the desire for material wealth.
Symbolism:
The “Rocking horse” is a symbol is an aspiration for opulence and money. Paul rides the horse, so he can foretell the winner of the race. Hester, Paul’s mother symbolizes voracity and egocentricity and was possessed with material affluence status. She had no affection for her kids. Her greed for money made Paul ride on the rocking horse, due to which he gets mad and dies. The house represents an unfortunate family and disappointing mood. Since Paul’s father was unfortunate, his mother was unhappy with her marriage. Because of that the family was experiencing financial complications.
Irony:
Paul’s mother, at the start of the story wants money and fortune. But, when she gets money through good fortune, she loses her son. The “Rocking horse” which brings luck for Paul, eventually gives him his death too. This is Irony. Uncle Oscar thinks that since Paul is a child, he will not be successful in racing horses. But when he starts wining the bets, Oscar becomes partner of

Show More
Related

  • Money In Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter

    507 Words  | 2 Pages

    In order to sustain her indulgence for the finer conditions, her hunger for moneys grows so much that even the house whispers about it because there is never enough. Hester's anxiety over wealth affects her children to the point they feel as if they can hear the house constantly saying they need money: "And so the house came to be haunted by the unspoken phrase: There must be more money! There must be more money!" (Lawerence 411). Children feed off their parent's energy. In the mother's constant state of distress, Paul feels trapped by the overwhelming cries that flow throughout what should be his safe haven. In an attempt to quiet the voices, Paul secretly gives money to Hester to be distributed over a span of 5 years. Unappreciative of this

    Read More

  • Rocking-Horse Winner 'And A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings'

    1719 Words  | 4 Pages

    For some reason they could not explain, Paul's uncle and Bassett had faith in him to pick it. They kept making money on the young boy with faith. The boy, whose parents had no luck, also had the faith that they did not have. Sadly, his faith killed him. He wanted

    Read More

  • The Presence and Justification of Autoeroticism in The Rocking-Horse Winner

    1507 Words  | 4 Pages

    Chief in the comprehension of Paul’s longing for motherly affection is having an understanding of Paul’s mother. She is generally a detached woman. Cold by most accounts, even her own, “only she herself [knows] that at the center of her heart [is] a hard little place that [can] not feel love, no, not for anybody” (Lawrence, 559). Paul’s mother feels the three children are a burden on an already cash strapped and unfulfilling relationship with her husband. Therefore, she is phony and removed where they are concerned. “She [has] bonny children, yet she [feels] they [have] been thrust upon her, and she [can] not love them […] when her children [are] present, she always [feels] the center of her heart go hard” (Lawrence, 559). Symptoms of post-partum depr...

    Read More

  • The Tale of Young Goodman Brown versus The Rocking Horse Winner

    775 Words  | 2 Pages

    Paul has the most motivation, although innocent at first, he grows more vulnerable with age, as his desire to satisfy his mother increases. Throughout the story, Lawrence notes the demonic spirit with statements acknowledging its presence, for example; “Paul’s eyes were dark and his voice changed as he rode,” “Paul rode unaware of anything around him, and fell off the horse in the end,” “the house whispered louder, “There must be more money.” The horse is symbolic of the risk of gambling with sin, loss, and death.... ... middle of paper ...

    Read More

  • The Storm And The Rocking Horse Winner

    525 Words  | 2 Pages

    The beginning of "The Rocking Horse Winner" gives the reader a sense of fantasy. It starts off with "There was a woman who was beautiful, who started with all the advantages, yet she had no luck." Already the reader has a sense of timelessness, of an extraordinary, illusory reality. Lawrence continues on with this feeling when the narrator tells us of this beautiful woman and her feelings towards her children. "Only she herself knew that at the center of her heart was a hard little place that could not feel love, no, not for anybody." The narrator goes on to tell us the tale of a woman, unable to love her own children, who is obsessed with money. The house the family lived in was always filled with a whisper, "There must be more money!" This whisper is what leads to Paul becoming obsessed with money and luck like his mother. The dream-like tone that fills the story cont...

    Read More

  • A Loss of Innocence

    1009 Words  | 3 Pages

    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 priceless items such as love. Paul’s mother and father were incapable of maintaining the social position they had to uphold with the amount of money they made. The house was always high strung and believed that there was always a need for more money. The house became haunted by the unspoken phrase, “There must be more money!”

    Read More

  • Comparing Rocking Horse Winner the Movie and Novel

    550 Words  | 2 Pages

    The short story, "Rocking-Horse Winner", and the movie based on it contrast considerably. When the written story has ended the movie continues with ideas, which may not come from the author. Three major differences of the two are: the mother, the father, and the ending. In the movie the mother, Hester, is portrayed as a loving and self-sacrificing person. While in the short story she is exposed to be a cold-hearted, and greedy person. Another instance where the short story and movie differ is the role of the father.

    Read More

  • Money for Love in The Rocking Horse Winner

    629 Words  | 2 Pages

    Paul wants to start giving his mother some of the money yearly. basis, but she ends up wanting it all. Success for his mother is acquiring more wealth to hide her inadequacies. This makes her worse the more she has, the more she wants. Paul would ride his imaginary racetrack on a rocking horse and he would return from his trance-like state with the winner's name.

    Read More

  • The Rocking-Horse Winner, Theme Analysis

    689 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...aul had paid the price of losing out on his childhood in order to try and give his mother money. A child shouldn't have to miss out on his youth because of his mother's obsession with having more money. Paul's mother paid an even greater price, she lost her only son. Paul died from what seemed like exhaustion from riding his rocking-horse for too long. In the end, Hester found out why Paul was riding his rocking-horse and she must of felt horrible that her son had died trying to please her.

    Read More

  • Jealousy In The Cask Of Amontillado

    1377 Words  | 3 Pages

    The way jealousy is portrayed throughout this story is through greed as the characters all agree, “Although they lived in style, they felt always an anxiety in the house. There was never enough money” (Lawrence 1223). As a whole, the lack of money causes the entire family to be jealous of other families and ultimately cause unexpected actions. For instance, when Oscar discovers his nephew always gambles and wins on horse races, he is skeptical of the idea of gambling at first, but eventually the narrator states, “He became a partner. And when the Leger was coming on, Paul was sure about Lively Spark, which was quite an inconsiderable horse…Paul had made ten thousand…Even Oscar Cresswell had cleared two thousand” (1230). This explains how Oscar’s covetousness for money causes his mindset to change for not punishing his nephew for deliberately sneaking out to gamble, continues to let him do so, and begins to participate in this outrageous activity himself. This imparts readers that being desirous can cause irresponsibly, but more importantly, cause a mental mindset to change. In the same way, Paul is resentful of the absence of money in the family, riding his magic rocking horse for as long as humanly possible. One day, he is trying to discern the next winner to the race after losing when his mom sees him yelling, “’It’s

    Read More

  • The Rocking Horse

    1356 Words  | 3 Pages

    In order to give their family the best and retain their illicit status, both parents embezzle all of their resources to -1- purchase materialistic things. The Rocking Horse Winner depicts how greed and the need possessions and money drives a member of this upper class family to resort to drastic measures. (Lawrence; The Rocking Horse Winner Study Guide) The second obvious moral to The Rocking Horse Winner is that often one does not realize what they have and how they we feel about it until it is gone. Early on within the story we learned that Paul’s mother had attractive, bonny children.

    Read More

  • Greed in The Rocking Horse Winner

    430 Words  | 1 Pages

    Paul, the child, knew that his family wanted money, and he knew that he was lucky, betting on the horses. Paul became partners with the gardener. He picked the horse, and the gardener placed the bet. Paul had started out with five shillings but his winnings kept adding up. When he had made 10,000 pounds he decided to give his mother 1000 pounds a year for five years. He wanted his winnings to be a secret so a lawyer handled the money. Paul saw the envelope from the lawyer and asked his mother if she had received anything good in the mail. She said "Quite moderately nice" (p. 168) in a cold voice. She liked getting the money, but she wasn't happy. She wanted more.

    Read More

  • Twisted Moral Values in D.H. Lawrence's The Rocking Horse Winner

    912 Words  | 2 Pages

    Anxiety is not only felt, but it is also heard in this household. The house that they family live in and the all of the expensive items in it are a prime example of anxiety. Hester and the father, whose name is never given, both do not have high paying jobs to support the spending that they do. Hester and the father both spend tons of money to fit into the status quo of their neighborhood, even though they know they cannot afford it. Their expensive taste leads to the house whispering a phrase through out the whole story, “There must be more money! There must be more money! The children could hear it all the time though nobody said it out loud (Lawrence 101). “ All of the children could hear the whisper but none of them would speak about it to each other. The voices of the house created a lot of anxiety for Paul especially. The reader is not given too much information about the father; he is absent for duration of the story. Snodgrass analyzes how the father’s absence leaves a huge gap in the family that needs to be filled. He believes that the Paul was devoted to repl...

    Read More

  • Symbolism In The Rocking-Horse Winner

    962 Words  | 2 Pages

    Hester, Paul’s rocking horse and the whispering of the house represent greed, selfishness, and love. They also reveal the character’s real feelings and thoughts of neglect, detachment, greed and selfishness. These symbols convey a theme and make the characters in the short story. The Rocking-Horse Winner is a tragic story where Paul dies trying to gain his mother’s love and compassion. The mother was just interested in the money he was winning in the derbies. The story conveys a major them of materialism and shapes the characters through the symbols.

    Read More

  • The Rocking Horse Winner Oedipus Complex Analysis

    636 Words  | 2 Pages

    “The Rocking Horse Winner” is a story that discusses a young boy, named Paul, and his family who feel they never have enough money. The family has insufficient funds, but when Paul provides the mother with money, she only desires further. This constant yearning causes the boy to feel the desperate and the interminable need to provide for his family. He in a sense almost hungers to replace his father and become the sole provider. Through trying to please his mother, the young boy Paul meets his demise. This tragic conclusion illustrates the lengths Paul will go in order to replace his father and become the provider for his mother. This story displays elements of an Oedipus complex, because of Paul’s desires to replace his father and the effects of insatiable greed, eventually resulting in his premature mortality.

    Read More

More about Rocking Horse Winner

Open Document