Materialism in the Rocking Horse
Materialistic Characters Cause Death
The Modern Age of British Literature was in some ways a rebellion against the Victorian ideals of extravagance, a perspective brought on by the harsh reality of World War I. The scarcity of resources combined with stark images of the war influenced writers to condemn the aristocracy for their excessive self-indulgence. In DH Lawrence’s “The Rocking Horse Winner” his hatred for the English people’s materialism is conveyed through the death of an innocent child.
Without a doubt, DH Lawrence views England as a money-dominated society. In fact Koban states, “Lawrence hated money and warping of modern man that scrambling for money caused. But he knew that no middle-class marriage could be successful without it. Money on the other hand must be kept in perspective and not romanticized into a substitute for love, as it is in ‘The Rocking Horse Winner’”(391). The parents’ delusion about the value of money over love ultimately destroys the family and calls attention to the modern world’s lack of values (Thornton 77). The house in this story symbolizes an obsession with money. It whispers the family secret, “There must be more money” because the parents are accustomed to having wealth, yet they are unable to produce it. They live beyond their means, and the walls of the mysterious house whisper this dark secret. The children hear it and know it, but do not speak of it. The parents feel it and know it, but do not speak of it. The house is symbolic of the insatiable lust for more and sets the stage for Paul’s fatal quest toward an unreachable goal.
The house serves as a visual to reflect the materialism of its inhabitants. Hester, Paul’s mother, is consumed by a desire to have an unsustainable lifestyle. Lawrence describes her as a woman “who started with all the advantages, yet she had no luck. She married for love, and the love turned to dust,” so the families’ finances are “not nearly enough for the social position which they had to keep
The Modern Age of British Literature was in some ways a rebellion against the Victorian ideals of extravagance, a perspective brought on by the harsh reality of World War I. The scarcity of resources combined with stark images of the war influenced writers to condemn the aristocracy for their excessive self-indulgence. In DH Lawrence’s “The Rocking Horse Winner” his hatred for the English people’s materialism is conveyed through the death of an innocent child.
Without a doubt, DH Lawrence views England as a money-dominated society. In fact Koban states, “Lawrence hated money and warping of modern man that scrambling for money caused. But he knew that no middle-class marriage could be successful without it. Money on the other hand must be kept in perspective and not romanticized into a substitute for love, as it is in ‘The Rocking Horse Winner’”(391). The parents’ delusion about the value of money over love ultimately destroys the family and calls attention to the modern world’s lack of values (Thornton 77). The house in this story symbolizes an obsession with money. It whispers the family secret, “There must be more money” because the parents are accustomed to having wealth, yet they are unable to produce it. They live beyond their means, and the walls of the mysterious house whisper this dark secret. The children hear it and know it, but do not speak of it. The parents feel it and know it, but do not speak of it. The house is symbolic of the insatiable lust for more and sets the stage for Paul’s fatal quest toward an unreachable goal.
The house serves as a visual to reflect the materialism of its inhabitants. Hester, Paul’s mother, is consumed by a desire to have an unsustainable lifestyle. Lawrence describes her as a woman “who started with all the advantages, yet she had no luck. She married for love, and the love turned to dust,” so the families’ finances are “not nearly enough for the social position which they had to keep
Cited: Goldberg, Michael. “Lawrence 's 'The Rocking-Horse Winner”: A Dickensian Fable." Modern Fiction Studies 15 (1969): 525-536. Koban, Charles. "Allegory And The Death Of The Heart In 'The Rocking-Horse Winner '." Studies In Short Fiction 15.4 (1978): 391 Lawrence, Robert G. “Further Notes on D.H. Lawrence 's Rocking Horse." College English 24 (1963): 324. Prentice-Hall, 1963. Pp. 117-26. 1958 Thornton, Weldon, and Harold Bloom "Supernatural." Bloom 's Major Short Story Writers: D.H. Lawrence (2001): 108-110. Literary Reference Center Winner. Ed. Dominick P. Consolo. Columbus, OH: Charles E. Merrill, 1969. Pp. 95-106.