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The Rocking Horse Winner

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.

The protagonist- Paul, attempts hard, though futile, to please his mother and get her love and attention
by being lucky. For him, being lucky means to possess much money. So he uses his instinct to predict the
name of winning horse in a froth coming horse race. 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. With the help of his maternal uncle, he
bets on the horse and starts collecting the money and secretly sends to mother. He cannot find the
desired happiness in his mother’s face as she wants more and more. So, he tries harder this time, he
wins the bet, but he has to pay a high cost- he dies.

This story criticizes those English people who then equate love with money and luck with happiness.
Here the mother stands for the unfulfilled desires and Paul, the son, stands for the desperate search for
values in a cash culture. 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.
Lawrence uses symbols and relationships to cater the theme in the story. He uses the symbol of
“wooden rocking horse” and “the whispering”.

“The wooden rocking horse” employs the meaning of the supernatural. It is the place where Paul can
predict the name of winning horse in the race. It is where he loses himself and gets extraordinary power
to foresee the future. Paul is too determined to uplift his social status and he has to find the winners. So
he says, “now, take me to where there is luck!” But sadly he is taken to death by extreme pressure both
on physical and psychological aspects. “The whispering” in the house “There must be more money!”
symbolizes the desires to live in upper class of the society. Paul’s mother always grumbles for not having
more money or for being unlucky after getting married. So, Paul feels more pressured to make his
mother happy and content. But all his efforts go in vain. His mother never becomes happy because she
wants more and more.

Lawrence with the use of dramatic relationships implies the theme of the story. The never ending lust
for money and social status ruins the relationships and brings shadows on the love of family members.
Paul’s mother has a hunger for money. She thinks she was lucky but after getting married to Paul’s
father, she becomes unlucky and she clearly mentions that she is not happy with her husband. With
such a family background, Paul wants to be lucky and for him to be lucky means to have money. He
wants to get love and attention of mother by being lucky. In this quest, he loses himself. He earns some

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money for the mother, but destroys his life. In the name of being lucky for mother, the son distances
himself from mother eternally. The mother too gives high value for money and status than the love and
family bond. The relationships become stronger if there is more money for the mother. 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.

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Critical Commentary -2
In the short story "The Rocking Horse-Winner" by D. H. Lawrence it is illustrated that money cannot buy
happiness. The short story displays the way people allow money to control their lives. The passage
includes the literary devices; character development, contrast, suspense and dramatic irony. "The
Rocking-Horse Winner" is written giving the omniscient point of view. The thoughts and motives of all of
the characters are told when D. H. Lawrence finds suitable.

Paul vs The Voices

Paul is besieged by the whispers of the house and attempts to combat them by supplementing his
mother's income with his race winnings.

Paul vs His Mother

The conflict that arises due between Paul and his mother is polymorphous. The need of Paul's mother to
uphold the appearance of financial status directly impacts the intensity of the house's whispers. This is
the main contributor to Paul's distress and his compulsive need to 'know". There is also a maternal
failing on the mother's part and the children are aware of this lack of adoration. Additionally Paul is
angered by the lack of attention that his mother pays to his assertions of his own fortune and is
motivated to prove otherwise. It is likely that Paul seeks his mother's approval and affection and tries to
acquire it through purchase.

Hester's Personal Conflict

This is the conflict from which the other two are derived. As Paul's conflicts relate to maternal approval
a conflict within Hester can be seen as a point of origin for other conflicts within the narrative. Hester is
of a self conscious nature which explains why she is so intent on upholding illusions of happiness and
wealth. "They looked at her coldly, as if they were finding fault with her. And hurriedly she felt she must
cover up some fault in herself. Yet what it was that she must cover up she never knew."(18) She thinks
herself unfortunate and unsuccessful all while maintaining a facade displaying the opposite. As these
underlying feelings emanate in an implicit manner they manifest themselves as an unspoken truth
similar to that which is uttered by the house. Hester is unable to find happiness despite a relative bounty
and this dissatisfaction is not lost on her children.

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Narration

The story is narrated by a third person omniscient narrator, this style of narration allows for a more
unbiased recollection. The narrator's tone is detached and haunting as if it were a simple recollection of
a minor tragedy. This tone is useful for conveying consequences that occur as a result of avarice, pride,
and excessive and unrelenting determination. Via the use of this tone the narration serves as a reminder
of the underlying themes and tragic nature of the story. The narrator regards the events of the story
with neutrality and is simply reporting the unfortunate truth. At last the mother said: "I will see if I can't
make something." But she did not know where to begin. She racked her brains, and tried this thing and
the other, but could not find anything successful. The failure made deep lines come into her face. Her
children were growing up, they would have to go to school. There must be more money, there must be
more money. The father, who was always very handsome and expensive in his tastes, seemed as if he
never would be able to do anything worth doing. And the mother, who had a great belief in herself, did
not succeed any better, and her tastes were just as expensive.(19) The narrator is distanced from the
story in order to affect a dark and suspenseful mood. By hinting towards elements of the supernatural
occurring within the story without directly acknowledging their presence. the narrator forces the reader
to speculate whether or not supernatural involvement is responsible for the voices in the house,
premonition, and Paul's untimely death.

Paul

Paul has been cast as a protagonist as the story depicts the intensive process by which he acquires his
winnings. Sympathy is generated for Paul as he tries and fails to gain his mother's affection and alleviate
the family debt. Paul can be seen as filling archetypal roles such as the descent of a character afflicted by
a form of madness, a sacrifice for their respective cause, and a child who is forced to mature due to
circumstance.

Madness and Imagery- Paul's Eyes

Near the beginning of the story the narrator establishes the premise that what is observed in a person's
eyes is an accurate portrayal of their emotional state. "Only she herself, and her children themselves,
knew it was not so. They read it in each other's eyes." The descriptions of Paul's eyes vary throughout
the story. The first description of Paul's eyes occurs when he asks his mother about luck where his eyes
are said to be "unsure". Following this discussion Paul goes off to forcefully ponder the nature of luck.
This is the story's first explicit mention of Paul riding his rocking horse at which point a change occurs
and Paul's eyes begin to show flares of determination. "But Paul only gave a blue glare from his big,
rather close-set eyes. He would speak to nobody when he was in full tilt." This is also the point in time at
which the reader first learns of Paul's perceptive abilities. "Well, I got there!" he announced fiercely, his
blue eyes still flaring, and his sturdy long legs straddling apart. As the derby approaches and Paul
becomes more and more desperate to know the winner the "fire" within his eyes begins to burn
brightly. Following Paul's final revelation and collapse the fire leaves his eyes leaving them with the
appearance if blue stones leading up to his death. Paul's eyes act as viewing ports for his psychological
turbulence providing a window into the anxiety he feels throughout the narrative.

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Paul displays a level of seriousness that would not be typically expected of another child of similar age.
Perhaps Paul, made painfully aware of his family's financial state has attempted to assume a provisional
role within his family and inherited the stress that comes with it.

Hester

Hester casts herself in an antagonistic role early on in the story by virtue of both her over consumption
in spite of her debt and her attitude towards her children. This is the initial role that she assumes, a
mother who does not love her children. Though later on in the story Hester begins to worry about Paul
and starts to reveal that she care about him to some degree. "The Derby was drawing near, and the boy
grew more and more tense. He hardly heard what was spoken to him, he was very frail, and his eyes
were really uncanny. His mother had sudden strange seizures of uneasiness about him. Sometimes, for
half an hour, she would feel a sudden anxiety about him that was almost anguish. She wanted to rush to
him at once, and know he was safe."(31) As Hester starts to notice Paul's decline in the time leading up
to the Derby her behavior becomes more motherly. The characters cast through this archetype have a
tendency to experience a priority shattering revelation that results in a new view that is the polar
opposite of the initial stance that has been assumed.

As touched on before Paul's conflicts within the narrative stem from the relationship with his mother.
Specifically seeking approval or affection from a maternal figure who is not likely to show signs of either.
Additionally these conflict's stemmed from conflicts within Hester herself. As this story occurred during
the 1920's the patriarchal nature of society at the time can partially explain these conflicts. First and
foremost Hester believes herself to be unlucky and is of a resentful disposition towards her husband
who is also described a being of poor fortune. There is certainly a correlation between luck and
opportunity and Hester being confined by a marriage to a supposedly unlucky man experiences a deficit
of both. Secondly Hester is set in an unfavorable role early on in the story due to her feelings towards
her children. The concept of a mother not loving her children is morally repugnant to the average reader
and Hester is quickly nailed to the wall by this stigma. Though interestingly enough the notion of
someone subscribing to an archetypal set of values by the simple virtue of childbirth is imposed by a
patriarchal society and its viewpoints on maternity. When Hester is viewed without this imposition the
net result is a picture of a woman who covets that which is above her income, is resentful of her
situation, and does not anticipate any impending change.

Adaptation Into Film : The Rocking Horse Winner [1949]

When short stories are adapted to film they can actually gain detail and help provide further insight past
that which the literature itself provides. This brief scene which displays the climatic action of the film,
manages to shed light on the nature of the house's whispers and the final moments of interaction
between Hester and Paul. There is a constant element of suspense which is augmented by the black and
white film as well as the remarkable job done by the London Philharmonic Orchestra. By this visual and
audible medium allusions to themes of horror and the supernatural can be more pronounced. Such as
the voices in the house and the absolutely terrifying image of the rocking horse close up in half light.

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Narrative Structure

This act of repetition is present for both Paul's demands and those made by the voices in the house. This
indicates that the means by which the house elicits its demands inherently childish. As the voices in the
house are a personification of the avarice of its inhabitants greed itself can be seen as a force of primal
and infantile nature.