In D.H. Lawrence’s story “The Rocking-Horse Winner” a story is told about an unhappy family. Hester, Paul’s mother, constantly complained about them not having any luck. Hester says they don’t have any money, because they don’t have any luck. Sadly, she depends on Paul to find some luck. He doesn’t even realize that a task has been placed on him that he shouldn’t even have as a child. Money can’t buy happiness. Paul’s mother is unhappy and Paul wants to make her happy. He sets out to find luck, which will bring money. Hester seems to think that having luck may be the key to solving her unhappiness. Paul wanted to see his mother happy, so he set out to find luck. Paul could sense …show more content…
But, will that be enough for his mother? Once he begins to win he is happy, but he doesn’t want his mother to know what he is doing. Like D.H. Lawrence said, “All right, son! We’ll manage it without her knowing.” It was kind of easy to do so. Once he began giving his mother money, she is slightly happier. But sadly, she never felt like she had enough money. Paul wins five thousand pounds and has it setup so that his mother would receive one thousand pounds on her birthday for the next five years, but she was not happy about that once she found out about it. She wanted all of it at once. She begins to overwhelm Paul. He thought that gaining the luck would make his mother happy, but then he discovers her greed. In D.H. “Lawrence’s The Rocking-Horse Winner” you learned about Hester’s unhappiness and greed. You see how caring Paul is by trying to make his mother happy. She desired luck, so he sets out on a search for it and makes a discovery. There is never enough when it comes to his mother. He learns that sometimes you just can’t please everyone. I can honestly say that he did try. This story shows you that money can’t buy happiness, but money can show someone’s true
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
...given up the lottery fools and suggests that the rain may stop coming for them. In “The Rocking-Horse Winner” the mother feels that "she felt she must cover up some fault," and even though there's never any particular person forcing her to try and prove her worth by having more, she feels that nebulous need. She wants the "discreet servants" and to be seen as part of the upper class, and her son, understanding his mother's needs, chooses to sacrifice his life.
“Money doesn’t buy happiness.” Most children learn this proverb and immediately try to disprove it, or simply do not believe it. However, age allows one to see the truth in this phrase. In My Antonia, a novel by Willa Cather, the protagonist, Jim Burden, reflects on his childhood in the American frontier. Despite achieving wealth and an elevated social position, benefits most associate with attaining the American Dream, Jim Burden eventually realizes that true success, and happiness, is found in strong emotional connections.
In today’s society we perceive the lottery as being a great fortune brought down upon you by Lady Luck. It is a serendipitous event, even if the person has done nothing to earn it. One would never see the lottery as an unfortunate occasion that occurred in your life because it is supposed to bring prosperity into your life. Also, one would not dare to think that winning the lottery would bring such repercussions as injury or death. In the short story “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson, the author could have used Mrs. Tessie Hutchinson as the town’s scapegoat due to their reluctance to change traditions, her horrible work ethic, and minority status as a woman.
{It came whispering from the springs of the still-swaying rocking horse, and even the horse, bending his wooden, champing head, heard it. The big doll, sitting so pink and smirking in her new pram, could hear it quite plainly, and seemed to be smirking all the more self-consciously because of it. The foolish puppy, too, that took the place of the teddy-bear, he was looking so extraordinarily foolish for no other reason but that he heard the secret whisper all over the house: “There must be more money!” Yet no body ever said it out aloud. The whisper was everywhere, and therefore no one spoke it. Just as no one ever says: “We are breathing!” in spite of the fact that breath is coming and going all the time.} Pg 236 paragraph 6.
In the beginning of the written story the author reveals Hester to be a cold-hearted mother. "She had bonny children, yet she felt they had been thrust upon her, and she could not love them"(75). In public she is thought of as the perfect mother, but in private she and her children know her true feelings. "Everyone else said of her: 'She is such a good mother. She adores her children.' Only she herself, and her children themselves, knew it was not so. They read it in each other's eyes"(75). Heste...
“Money doesn’t buy happiness.” Most children learn this proverb and immediately try to disprove it, or simply do not believe it. However, age allows one to see the truth in this phrase. In My Antonia, a novel by Willa Cather, the protagonist, Jim Burden, reflects on his childhood in the American frontier. Despite having achieved wealth and an elevated social position, benefits most associate with attaining the American Dream, Jim Burden still longs for the happy days of his youth.
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 "The Rocking Horse Winner" D. H. Lawrence tells us about the traumatic downfall of an upper middle class family struggling to maintain appearances through habitual overspending. Both the parents with common jobs and "expensive tastes" (pg.646) exploit all their resources to give their family the best; however, it was only to retain their high status in the society. "The Rocking Horse Winner" depicts a common demon we all face; greed, society's need for more possessions and money often drives people to do drastic things.The magnificently decorated house had always been haunted by the unspoken phrase, "there must be more money" (pg.646). "Nobody said it aloud. Just as no one says: We are breathing! In spite of the fact that breath is coming and going all the time." (pg.647) "They heard it at Christmas, when the expensive and splendid toys filled the nursery. Behind the shinning modern rocking-horse, behind the smart dolls house, a voice would start whispering: There must be more money!"(pg.646).The house cried with pain as it pitie...
Louise Erdrich’s short story “American horse” is a literary piece written by an author whose works emphasize the American experience for a multitude of different people from a plethora of various ethnic backgrounds. While Erdrich utilizes a full arsenal of literary elements to better convey this particular story to the reader, perhaps the two most prominent are theme and point of view. At first glance this story seems to portray the struggle of a mother who has her son ripped from her arms by government authorities; however, if the reader simply steps back to analyze the larger picture, the theme becomes clear. It is important to understand the backgrounds of both the protagonist and antagonists when analyzing theme of this short story. Albetrine, who is the short story’s protagonist, is a Native American woman who characterizes her son Buddy as “the best thing that has ever happened to me”. The antagonist, are westerners who work on behalf of the United States Government. Given this dynamic, the stage is set for a clash between the two forces. The struggle between these two can be viewed as a microcosm for what has occurred throughout history between Native Americans and Caucasians. With all this in mind, the reader can see that the theme of this piece is the battle of Native Americans to maintain their culture and way of life as their homeland is invaded by Caucasians. In addition to the theme, Erdrich’s usage of the third person limited point of view helps the reader understand the short story from several different perspectives while allowing the story to maintain the ambiguity and mysteriousness that was felt by many Natives Americans as they endured similar struggles. These two literary elements help set an underlying atmos...
When you hear the word “lottery”, the average person would usually think of something good or “clear and sunny” (1). This short story will have the reader thinking differently. Whether you love it or hate it, “The Lottery” has sparked emotion in everyone who has read the short story. This story masterfully shows that some traditions are not meant to be kept. Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” is a short story about the yearly lottery in a small village of three hundred. Everyone in the village picks a ticket out of the black box starting with the husband. If your last name is picked, the husband or a member of his family is picked via ticket draw. The person picked that time is subject to stoning. This sadistic cycle is then repeated every year.
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.
There is no better observation of human behavior combining both comedy and tragedy than a person of winning (or almost winning) a lottery. Money gained by chance does not seem to mesh well with human nature. In Chekov’s The Lottery Ticket the situation with Ivan and his wife is no exception.
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.
Many people forget about the most important things in life, like family and enjoying life