D.H. Lawrence's The Rocking-horse Winner

In D. H. Lawrence's The Rocking-Horse Winner, a ne'er-do-well family includes a son who has a gift of feverishly riding his rocking-horse until he experiences a revelation of the upcoming horse race winner. Paul's gift eventually kills him. Paul's family consists of his parents and two little sisters. His family lives a decent lifestyle, but his parents, particularly his mother, continually laments their need for more money. Her obsession with acquiring more money pervades the household, to the point where the house seems to whisper to Paul, "There must be more money! There must be more money!" (Lawrence 148). Paul's parents are unwilling to forego their superficial and materialistic desires, thereby creating tension in the household and especially within Paul.

As a young boy, Paul is filled with anxiety over his mother's laments and the never-ending whispers for "more money." Paul's mechanism for alleviating the tension he feels in his family environment is to wildly ride his rocking-horse. When he does, his revelations of the race winners provide ample income to resolve what he perceives to be his family's need. By doing so, Paul alleviates the tension within his environment and within him. However, his desire to control his environment to help his family will rob them of their most valuable asset, Paul himself.

The main source of Paul's tension and anxiety is a loveless mother whose preoccupation with material wants has

Related Essays

The Rocking Horse Winner and The Destructors: A Comparison .... himself for money and love 3. Theme of materialism vs human values This paper will compare and contrast two English short stories: DH Lawrence=s AThe Rocking .... (1252 5 )

Literary Views of Women .... End of the Affair by Graham Greene, Lady Chatterley's Lover by DH Lawrence, and The .... Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys takes its lead from Charlotte Bront?'s Jane Eyre .... (1937 8 )

Novels Reflection of How Society Views Women .... End of the Affair by Graham Greene, Lady Chatterley's Lover by DH Lawrence, and The .... Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys takes its lead from Charlotte Bront?'s Jane Eyre .... (1937 8 )

"Where I'm Calling From" .... at no time does the narrator appear to be deeply moved by JP's story. .... DH Lawrence, in his short story "The Rocking-Horse Winner," tells the tale of a young boy .... (9714 39 )

A Beautiful Mind Paranoid Schizophrenia .... The first is with his heavy-drinking, DH Lawrence loving roommate Charles, and the other involves his meeting the girl who will become .... Nasar, S. (Mar 11, 2002 .... (1647 7 )

References Battishtich, V., Watson, M., Solomon .... (pp. 1 -34) Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. Bennetta, WJ (1994). .... Educational Leadership, 54(8), 24-27. Black, S. (1996). .... Elkind, DH & Sweet, F. (1997). .... (763 3 )

putting all of his energy and desire into earning money. Paul's mother has compelled him to become just like her, living only for an alleged happiness that being lucky and earning money will bring. Paul demands that his Uncle Oscar tell no one about their activities, particularly his mother. They conspire to present her with an annual gift of money on her birthday. Before her birthday arrives, we see how desperately the household obsession drives Paul to distraction: "The house had been �whispering' worse than ever lately, and, even in spite of his luck, Paul could not bear up against it" (Lawrence 159). Paul is anxious to see his mother's reaction when she gets her birthday present. His mother receives her one thousand pounds but is still unhappy. She goes to the lawyers to see if she can get the entire five thousand pounds. Reluctantly, Uncle Oscar approves Paul's request that his mother receive all five thousand pounds. Though Paul notices new furnishings, a tutor, and other results of his mother's newfound money, the house continues to whisper for more money but only now it does so "More than ever!" (Lawrence 160). After Paul gives his mother all of the money, he begins to lose some of his certainty in picking winning

Category: Literature - D