The rocking horse winner by dh lawrence sparknotes. The Rocking Horse Winner by D.H. Lawrence: Summary 2022-10-18
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The Rocking Horse Winner is a short story by D.H. Lawrence that tells the tale of a young boy named Paul who believes that he has the ability to predict the winners of horse races by riding his rocking horse. The story explores themes of materialism, luck, and the consequences of not being able to fulfill societal expectations.
At the beginning of the story, it is clear that Paul's family is facing financial difficulties. His mother is constantly worried about money and often talks about how they do not have enough. Despite this, she and Paul's father continue to lavish themselves with expensive material possessions, such as designer clothes and a grand piano, in an attempt to appear wealthy to their social circle.
Paul becomes obsessed with the idea of being able to predict the winners of horse races and begins riding his rocking horse frantically, hoping to receive some sort of divine revelation. Eventually, his unusual behavior attracts the attention of his family, who begin to take his predictions seriously. Paul becomes the talk of the town and his family is able to reap the financial rewards of his "talent."
However, Paul's obsession with his rocking horse takes a toll on his health and he eventually becomes sick and dies. The story ends with Paul's mother reflecting on how she and her husband's desire for material wealth ultimately led to their son's untimely death.
The Rocking Horse Winner is a cautionary tale about the dangers of placing too much value on material possessions and the societal pressure to conform to certain standards of wealth. It shows how the pursuit of money and status can have destructive consequences and highlights the importance of finding happiness within oneself rather than trying to achieve it through external means.
The Rocking Horse Winner by Lawrence: Critical Commentary
In summary, is the riding of the rocking-horse supposed to be Freudian sexual code? Paul is too determined to uplift his social status and he has to find the winners. The relationships become stronger if there is more money for the mother. Provided the money that Paul used to make his first win at the horse race. In this quest, he loses himself. A bizarre ritual develops in which Paul mysteriously seeks "luck" in the frenzied riding of his nursery rocking-horse. It is the place where Paul can predict the name of winning horse in the race.
With the help of his maternal uncle, he bets on the horse and starts collecting the money and secretly sends to mother. Hester pressures Paul to satisfy her materialistic desires. Oscar Creswell: Paul's uncle and his mother's brother. It presents the ironic tone to moralize on the value of love and dangers of money by using the devices of fairy tale and symbolism. But on the other hand, he ends up being overcome by his own success and the excitement it generates, and dies.
A Summary and Analysis of D. H. Lawrence’s ‘The Rocking
. All these relationships of father — mother, mother- son clearly depicts the theme that the lust for money and social status destroys love, life and happiness. So, Paul feels more pressured to make his mother happy and content. Summary A Study Guide for D. Somehow, inexplicably, magically, the boy hears from the horse's mouth, as it were the name of the horse that will win whatever major British horse race is about to take place. He dies of brain fever, incoherently pleading with his mother to acknowledge how lucky he has been.
The Rocking Horse Winner by D.H. Lawrence: Summary
Here the mother stands for the unfulfilled desires and Paul, the son, stands for the desperate search for values in a cash culture. The protagonist; Paul, attempts hard, though futile, to please his mother and get her love and attention by being lucky. The family's life exceeds its income and unspoken anxiety about money permeates the household. For any literature project, trust Short Stories for Students for all of your research needs. For this he has to ride madly in his wooden rocking horse, and knows the name of the horse that will win in the race. The juxtaposition of Hester's greed with Paul's generosity highlights the dichotomy between materialism and love.
Eventually, however, he rides his rocking-horse into such a frenzy that he collapses and, upon hearing news that he has won a large fortune from his latest bet, he dies. He earns some money for the mother, but destroys his life. After more winnings, Paul and Oscar arrange to give the mother a gift of five thousand pounds but the gift only lets her spend more. The pressure to be lucky and to pick the right horse which involves a combination of frenzied rocking and trusting his own instincts finally becomes too much for the boy. .
Download A Study Guide for D. H. Lawrence's "Rocking Horse Winner" by Gale, Cengage
But all his efforts go in vain. . This is, indeed, what it does to Paul: riding his rocking-horse proves very bad for his health. This concise study guide includes plot summary; character analysis; author biography; study questions; historical context; suggestions for further reading; and much more. His mother never becomes happy because she wants more and more.
Does Lawrence introduce this name into his story to blend a degree of realism into his fantastical story? Lawrence's "Rocking Horse Winner," excerpted from Gale's acclaimed Short Stories for Students. Signed the lawyer papers for Paul's mother to receive "one thousand pounds at a time, on the mother's birthday, for the next five years". The never ending lust for money and social status ruins the relationships and brings shadows on the love of family members. The first such named horse is Sansovino, who really did win the Epsom Derby in 1924. It is where he loses himself and gets extraordinary power to foresee the future.
With this quotation in mind, "The Rocking-Horse Winner" becomes a sweeping indictment not only of one family's deadly lust for money, but of the spiritual death of England in general. Sometimes he says he is "sure" of a winner for an upcoming race and the horses he names do in fact win, sometimes at remarkable odds. He wants to get love and attention of mother by being lucky. The story closes with the tormented mother being offered small comfort by her brother, Oscar, who observes that the boy is better off dead than seeking so desperately after luck. . Uncle Oscar and Bassett both place large bets on the horses Paul names.
Some critics such as Ben Stoltzfus in his book Lacan and Literature: Purloined Pretexts have noted that Paul, a preadolescent boy, spends a lot of time shut away in his room riding the horse, and that he rides it so frenziedly that he ends up going into a trance. His maternal uncle, Oscar, discovers Paul's secret and counsels him to give some money anonymously to the mother. By demonstrating the lack of love in materialism, Lawrence suggests that external sources like money and luck cannot bring one happiness; instead, happiness must come from within. Bassett: The family gardener and friend. Through the tragic story the writer develops a theme, that is, extreme desire for money and social status ultimately leads to destruction: destruction of relationships and moral values. The story is typical of Lawrence's work in exploring how modern materialism can become a corrupting influence; the money anxieties of the family in "The Rocking Horse Winner" may also be a reflection of Lawrence's own early life as the child of struggling working-class parents, which provided fodder for many of his early works. We might add that, tellingly, Paul has moved the rocking-horse from the nursery into his bedroom, suggesting a desire to upgrade from childhood into adolescence, which would include a desire for sexual knowledge and exploration.
