Both D. H. Lawrence and Graham Greene are very exceptional writers of the twentieth century. However, only one text stood out the best for me. In D. H. Lawrence’s text The Rocking-Horse Winner, there is a structure to the story. There is most definitely a big separation between upper-class and lower-class people. Throughout the text there are great examples of how one might try to fit in with the upper-class, literally trying everything they can, even if it could possible hurt them in the end. This story, The Rocking-Horse Winner by Lawrence had more of a surprise to me then A Shocking Accident by Greene. The reason for this is because not only could I relate to this story, but in a way I feel as if I could be Paul; however, the reason why I choice this story that surprised me was the very ending with the mothers son there dead, where he tried to ride his rocking-horse to find a winner. Throughout The Rocking-Horse Winner, there is a mention of luck. Luck among a person could be both good and bad. Whether you were born with it or not, it should never bring you down. In the text The Rocking-Horse Winner by Lawrence, the mother states, “it’s because your father has no luck.” (Prentice Hall Literature [page 148]). Unfortunately in my situation, I beg an intriguing observation among someone having no luck. Luck is simply not something you are born with, but it should be looked at as if something you must earn. If related to respect, luck can simply be many things among human values; however, no one is gifted with this whether you are lucky or unlucky. With that said, this was something that pondered my thoughts, but as I continued to read there was more and more that just didn’t quite seem right. Second, in the text The Rocking-Horse ... ... middle of paper ... ...an environment where neither parents could really support their children is completely wrong. In my beliefs, start from the bottom and reach your way to the top. Even though the lower-class is not all the great, but in the end you begin to see eye to eye. In the text The Rocking-Horse Winner by Lawrence, there is a lot of meaning too this thing called luck; however, as stated before, luck is not simply something you are born with. In fact it’s the complete opposite. If only this was something that could be fixed in the story, but probably not, there could be so many things that could be seen. Almost as if abuse could be involved, which is why this story was not only a text that questioned parenting and what the children’s perspective of them were, but this started a whole new line of questions on parenting in general. Works Cited Prentice Hall Literature Volume 2
Once he learns that luck brings money, the very component his mother yearns for, he goes on a mission with his trusty steed. He becomes violent hitting his wooden rocking horse with a whip and commands it, "'Now, take me to where there is luck! Now take me!'" (Lawerence 412). His obsession causes him to act out of character because the one items he cherishes has to endure the displaced frustration he has toward Hester. This shows how much he wants his mother to acknowledge his existence in her life. His goal in finding luck is to also find money in anticipation that Hester's search will cease forcing all of her attention on him. Paul not only loses his temperament but his childhood as well. He becomes preoccupied with gambling when it should be superheroes and sports. He rocks on his horse compulsively until he falls ill screaming out the winning horse's name: "'Malabar! It's Malabar!'" (Lawerence 412). As his prediction comes true, Hester collects the prize money, and Paul believes he has obtained the unobtainable. He hunts for her acceptance one last time asking, "'Over eighty thousand pounds! I call that lucky, don't you mother?'" (Lawerence 422). Hester replies, "'No, you never did'" (422), and he dies later that night without ever knowing his worth. She is unable to give him his dying wish of her
The setting in the stories The Lottery and The Rocking-Horse Winner create an atmosphere where the readers can be easily drawn in by the contrasting features of each short story. This short essay will tell of very important contrasting aspects of settings in that while both stories are different, both hold the same aspects.
There are many differences and similarities between Graham Greene’s “The Destructors” and D.H. Lawrence’s “Rocking Horse Winner.” One general difference is that in “The Destructors” the setting is in Great Britain, after the bombing had happened during World War 1, when the buildings were destroyed. The setting of “Rocking Horse Winner” is a suburban community located on the outskirts of Baltimore, Maryland. This one distinct difference affects the entire background of each story. The setting of “The Destructors” brings mood and feeling into the story were ass the setting of “Rocking Horse Winner” is just a general setting which could be changed and would not have a significant affect on the story as a whole. One general similarity between the two stories is that they both have a young boy as the main character, but the use of this character is very different in each story. The boy in “Rocking Horse Winner” is more innocent and unknowing of the evil the world can hold, he also hasn’t reached the rebellion stage of adolescence. In the other story “The Destructors” you have “T” who comes from a high class English family but is forced into poverty by the war, but he has already begun his rebellion against what is “good.” The similarities and differences between money, class, and family values in the stories are much more significant because they have more affect on each story and on the reader.
Parents having different thoughts or ideas for their children is something imminent. If it is not about the way they dress ,it's about the way they think or their own goals for you, but it is something that your parents will talk to you about sometime. In The Joy Luck Club, Amy Tan delves into how parental pressures and expectations change the mindset of their child. These mothers and daughters have their differences not only in time ,but mindset. Lindo and Suyuan Woo were born in china meanwhile June and Waverly were born in the Bay Area.The stories in the book,”The Joy Luck Club” show that when children fail to meet their parents expectation, they begin to think differently from one another and split apart.
When reading “The Rocking Horse Winner,” you quickly notice the introduction sets a tone carried throughout the story. Sadly, you quickly notice that the tone of this story is rather depressing. Both of these stories share an interesting similarity; the generational curse. Paul claims that God had told him he was in fact lucky. Coisendenlly even though Paul makes this statement he continues to gamble on horses to make money. Gambling is a true sin, something Paul seems to ignore. The house in the story whispers throughout the day, this is the author’s means of portraying personification. Paul continues to rid...
In most of my classes I’ve always heard that your parents are the most important people in your life and I truly believe this. People are affected by everything their parents say and do both in childhood and later on in adulthood. If a child is constantly looked down upon and made to believe that nothing they do is good enough, chances are they will grow up believing this and having low confidence. It is remarkable that a child David’s age fought himself from breaking down, dissolving into tears and giving up hope for a better future. David constantly worked towards or rather survived because of a dream, a dream t hat he was a prince and that every...
The Rocking-Horse Winner is a short story of irony and life lessons. The story starts by telling how the mother is brought up in a privileged home but does not have luck. “She married for love, and the love turned to dust”, and she had three bony children (a boy and two girls) whom she did not love (Lawrence 430). The boy’s attempts to silence the house’s whispers, the boy’s last speech, and the mother’s extreme materialism impart situational and verbal irony, and teaches a valuable life lesson at the same time.
A quote from the story, states, “The boy saw she did not believe him; or rather, that she paid no attention to his assertion. This anger in him somehow, made him want to compel her attention.” (40) His deep seeded desire to please his mother and receive her attention was nothing more than a little boy wanting his mother’s approval of his existence. This began to devour him and warp his mind to constantly get validation of his existence, only to kill him in the end. “The Rocking-Horse Winner” and Young Goodman Brown” both face to please the ones they love and at the same time causes them to lose
Underdogs are able to succeed because their opponent’s advantages are not always beneficial. Gladwell discusses how wealth, a traditional advantage, can actually cause parenting to be more
Lawrence’s, The Rocking Horse Winner, exposes the negative qualities associated with modern society and specifically adults. Adults are corrupting children at a young age to believe ...
We will first discuss the major theme of both of these short stories so that we might know how to address them going forward. Both stories are majorly centered on children. Lawrence develops his characters a bit more than the characters that Greene gives us insight into. Greene really only develops Trevor, called “T” in the story, and Mr. Thomas, who is called Old Misery. “T” is the new kid in town who rapidly becomes the gang’s leader. Mr. Thomas lives in an old, rickety house that is the only one left on the street. The Wormsley Gang sets their minds that they are going to destroy Old Misery’s house. In Lawrence’s “The Rocking Horse Winner”, Paul is the central figure of the story and his family is dealing with affects of poverty. Paul’s mother has a strong belief in luck so naturally; Paul becomes fixed on finding his own luck. The mother equates luck to be money as we see the phrase, “…there must be more money…there must be more money”, over and over again. Paul has become aware of the façade that his mother loves him when really she does not truly care about him. We see Paul become obsessed with money so that he might receive some resemblance of love from his mother. Both of the homes in these two short stories are very important and add to the plot.
...weather or notl their children succeed. Anna's story has another example of this when she says she would get in trouble for kissing a guy, although she does have premarital sex, she says she doesnt like it, doesnt like her boyfriend and feels dirty afterwards. I think this is because she was brought up thinking it was wrong and will always believe that. Lisa's mother has been divorced 3 times and then Lisa's boyfriend cheats on her and she stays with him, they talk about marraige like its nothing. I think this is because she saw her mother do ti so many times it just seemed normal like it was no big deal. Her mother did however stress school was important and Lisa has never missed a day of school and goes on to attend college.
In the days of Jesus through the mid 1900’s, people had many different superstitions, or beliefs, about life. People believed if they were to do certain things, they would have good luck. Like Indians used to do a dance, called the “Indian rain dance”, when they wanted it to rain so it would help their crops or even their heritage. It was a dance people still believe in today, but those people don’t know that the reason they said it worked was because the Indians didn’t quit dancing until it rained. There are many superstitions in today’s time as well. I know that in the game of baseball many different players have different superstitions. Just like David Wells, when he used to pitch for the New York Yankees, believed if he listened to Metallica before every game he pitched he would have a good game. But regardless if David Wells listened to Metallica or not, he would still pitch the same if he didn’t listen to them. All I am saying is that Shirley Jackson, when she wrote The Lottery, in 1948, was trying to show everyone about the different superstitions, or beliefs, each culture, town, or village had and how bad they were. Even the kids in the village got ready for the lottery, it didn’t faze them, and all they knew was that it was just an event that happened every year. After all, villages, tribes, or cultures have many different traditions they all tend to put their full trust in.
The Rocking-Horse Winner is a tragic story that demonstrates how materialism is very destructive in people’s lives. D.H. Lawrence uses one of the main characters, Hester, to symbolize how greed heavily affects the idea of materialism. Hester’s need for money develops the idea that happiness and love is destroyed by the need for money. Lawrence uses money in her short story to convey the idea of how neglect from a mother destroys an innocent, young child such as Paul. Lawrence’s symbolism reveals that children like Paul need love and compassion from their elders. 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.
Have you ever believed in a supernatural power or something that gives the ability to have an edge over others? In D.H Lawrence’s The Rocking Horse Winner, there is a young boy named Paul that has the ability to be able to see the future somewhat and win bets for a rather sad reason. All the boy wants is for his mother to believe that he is lucky and for her show him love and affection. Sadly, Paul works very hard to attempt to prove to his mother that he is indeed lucky, and to prove to her that their family is not cursed with bad luck. Then sadly, the mother does not give Paul the appreciation he wants until it is far too late and her son dies of exhaustion, all just for his mother to see that he is lucky so she would show him affection. Three messages portrayed in this story are, family, wealth, and luck.