The Rocking Horse Winner Essay

1591 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Critical analysis of the Rocking Horse Winner by DH Laurence

The story, “The Rocking Horse Winner” by D.H. Lawrence draws the reader in with the first sentence. Lawrence starts by talking about a woman who is beautiful but happens to have no luck (560). Immediately one thinks to himself why a beautiful woman is cursed with this luckless life. However, after realizing that this woman based her luck on money the story becomes an engaging tale. The fact that she is so absorbed with the thought of money makes this story easy to relate to. In modern days, that is what a lot of people have to worry about. The need or want for more money is something that an average person will at some point think about. The way Lawrence portrays the central character, Paul, is another reason this story is very captivating. Paul is a boy with intense emotions. All he is trying to do is win his mother's love. She cannot see past the money and does not seem to show Paul the love he yearns for. This makes the reader have feelings of empathy …show more content…

I followed a standard sequence of steps (MLA). When picking the topic I chose something I enjoyed. I have a good time learning and diving into the topic of a stories theme. At the same time, I have had trouble with characterization. This turns out great if I put it together. I have an advantage because I can relate things to the theme; I also have a challenge because I need to be able to prove that I do understand characterization techniques. Conducting research and creating the bibliography are tough. One needs to be able to look for reliable and accurate sources of information. Coming up with the outline is the most helpful part when preparing for the paper. It will eventually guide you when writing the paper. Having a series of sequential steps makes the research paper process run smooth. This paper will focus on the way D.H. Lawrence develops the theme, greed, in the short story “The Rocking Horse Winner”, using the characters physical descriptions, dialogue, and

Show More
Related

  • Materialism In The Rocking Horse Winner

    780 Words  | 2 Pages

    Are all mothers fit for motherhood? The concept of motherhood is scrutinized in the stories “The Rocking Horse Winner” and “Tears Idle Tears”. In “The Rocking Horse Winner” by D.H Lawrence the mother, Hester, unpremeditatedly provokes her son into providing for her through gambling. In the story “Tears Idle Tears” by Elizabeth Bowen, Mrs. Dickinson disregards her son’s emotions and puts more emphasis in her appearance than her son’s wellbeing. Hester and Mrs. Dickinson both were inadequate mothers. Both the mothers were materialistic, pretended to love their offspring, and their dominance hindered their children’s progress in life.

    Read More

  • The Contrast of Two Great Short Stories: The Rocking Horse Winner and The Lottery

    878 Words  | 2 Pages

    “The Rocking-Horse Winner” is a short story about a young boy, Paul, who has the supernatural ability to choose a winning race horse. It is not clear how the boy has this ability but he hears his mother’s voice echo in his mind saying that they are poor and so he sets out to change that. Paul takes on the stress of his mother’s greed. This short story relates to the obsession of wealth which what motivates the characters aside of neglect, faulty sense of value, opportunism and deceit. Paul believes that there is more money to be made and thus goes on a frenzy to win more, but consequently dies after falling off his rocking horse due to convulsions of a fever.

    Read More

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

    775 Words  | 2 Pages

    The tale of Young Goodman Brown,” by Nathaniel Hawthorne and the “The Rocking-Horse Winner,” by D. H. Lawrence are stories that use internal monologue, and symbolism to bring the reader inside the mind of its characters, exposing complicated inner battles of good and evil. Both authors use distorted reality as a metaphor for mental and spiritual chaos, confusion, and death as an inescapable consequence of sin.

    Read More

  • The Rocking Horse Winner and The Lottery

    825 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • A Loss of Innocence

    1009 Words  | 3 Pages

    Paul was outraged when he confronted his mother about the family’s lack of wealth, and she rejected his statement that he was lucky. After this scene, Paul was easily influenced that he would be able to reach this place of luck and finally satisfy his mother. Her desires for more money and luck are never satisfied, and as a result, lead to tragic consequences when love and money are confused in Paul’s mind. Paul’s heartbreaking attempt to win his mother’s love inevitably leads to his own death. Lawrence’s, The Rocking Horse Winner, exposes the negative qualities associated with modern society and specifically adults.

    Read More

  • Analysis of The Rocking Horse Winner

    1498 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    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

    In conclusion, "The Rocking-Horse Winner," written by D. H. Lawrence is a story about the family and the feelings of shame that we acquire from our parents that could have disastrous consequences for the whole family. We saw the effects of a mother's obsession with money, a son's plan to please his mother, and the prices the family paid for their obsession with money.

    Read More

  • The Rocking Horse

    1356 Words  | 3 Pages

    Within the story entitled The Rocking Horse Winner by D.H. Lawrence, the audience is divulged into the sordid family life of a adolescent boy named Paul, where there are three obvious morals told through the story’s style and symbolism. Also present within The Rocking Horse Winner are elements of supernaturalism and cold harsh reality. The first distinct moral in The Rocking Horse Winner is that we must not let ourselves be succumbed to greed and the need for materialistic items over our responsibilities in life. The mother and father’s obsession with wealth and material items is at battle with their parenting responsibilities within The Rocking Horse Winner.

    Read More

  • Sacrifice in The Lottery by Shirley Jackson and Rocking Horse Winner by D.H. Lawrence

    970 Words  | 2 Pages

    The point of view of materialism in the Rocking Horse Winner by D.H. Lawrence is the seen from inside the mind of child in the story, Paul. “He went off by himself, vaguely, in a childish way, seeking for the clue to “luck,” Absorbed, taking n...

    Read More

  • Literary Analysis Of The Rocking Horse Winner

    1196 Words  | 3 Pages

    He saves up enough money for his mother for a whole five years, at least he thought. His uncle helped him give his mother the money for her birthday without her knowing it actually came from him. When she first got the letter about the money she tried to hide it from everyone else. This particular gesture shows just how the mother can be extremely selfish. His mother, being the selfish woman she is, tries to take all the money the boy left her out at once. She goes through all of the money that was supposed to last her for five years on unnecessary things. Once this occurred the boy and the two girls start hearing the voices again: “there must be more money.” Hearing this he knew it was time for him to get back on his

    Read More

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

    912 Words  | 2 Pages

    Piedmont, Elisabeth. "An overview of 'The Rocking-Horse Winner,'." Short Stories for Students. Detroit: Gale, 2002. Literature Resource Center. Web. 21 Feb. 2014.

    Read More

  • Character of Hester in Lawrences The Rocking Horse Winner

    1066 Words  | 3 Pages

    Hester is one of the main characters in D.H. Lawrence’s “The Rocking-Horse Winner.” The story describes a young boy, Paul, who tries to win his “mother’s love by seeking the luck” (Kaplan 1971), which she believes she does not possess. Lawrence “condemns the modern notion that happiness and luck come from the outside, rather than from within; that happiness must take the form of money and goods rather than the erotic, parental, and filial love” (Kaplan 1972). The story is an “ironic and materialistic tragedy” (2). Many characteristics of Hester are revealed as she begins to realize that her luck, which she believes she does not have, starts to come back all because of her son’s special talent he has with a rocking horse. To Hester, the special things that her son gives her are just not enough. Her greed, selfishness, and dominance over others emphasize her overpowering character. Throughout the story, the mother’s greed becomes more and more overpowering. The son, Paul, is very determined to find luck for his mother, but the mother’s greediness keeps nagging on Paul. Hester, the mother, tells her son that she is not lucky, and it is “better to have luck than money because luck brings money” (Kaplan 1971). To Hester, money is the most important thing in the world for her. Even though Hester knows she does not need the money, there is something in the house that entices her to think “there must be more money, there must be more money” (852). This incantation reveals the mother’s greed that emphasizes her character. This house becomes “haunted” (852) by the mother’s unspoken thoughts. Her thoughts are mostly about whether she really loved her son unconditionall...

    Read More

  • Symbolism In The Rocking-Horse Winner

    962 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Who Is Paul In The Rocking Horse Winner

    579 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the short story “The Rocking Horse Winner”, by D.H. Lawrence there is a particular character that had an odd familiarity. The character’s name is Paul; a young boy who is been lead to believe that his mother is not content with the quality of life they lead. Paul sees this as a challenge to make their lives better by winning money at the horse races. In the end, he loses his life trying to make his mother happy. Like Paul, I too have gone to great lengths to make my mother happy.

    Read More

More about The Rocking Horse Winner Essay

Open Document