Rocking Horse Winner

Views on Femininity of The Rocking Horse Winner D.H. Lawrence’s The Rocking Horse Winner is a short story that easily shows a feminist side. Paul’s mother is a main character who is trapped in a society where she has to stick to the social norms. She will do anything to keep up the appearance even if it constitutes spending more money than the family has. “I can’t be, if I married an unlucky husband” (2). Because her husband is unlucky, she is considered unlucky. The mother is tied to the husband, and is not she own person. Paul tries to help his mother, but she always just needs more money. When she tries to obtain employment, the mother does not receive the full payment that she should, being oppressed by patriarchy. She does not have full
In this short story, it is the male’s job to earn the money, while the women stays at home to take care of the home, cook, clean, and do various other jobs. The mother breaks through these unwritten rules to pursue a job. The whispering of the house “There must be more money” (1) can be interpreted as the mother’s thoughts because she knows that they will fall farther and farther into debt if the money is not brought in. The mother does not love her children, though she tries to, and no matter what she does it does not change. This causes Paul to take over, and take control of more money coming into the home. When Paul decides to give his mother one thousand dollars on each of her birthdays, she insists on taking it all at one time. The mother feels the need to keep up with the social norms, and provide only the best for her children, even if she does not love them. Luck can be related to love in this story. The mother does not love her children, and find a hard spot in her heart for them, but still puts up the appearance that she loves them, just as the family does not
The class system is very important throughout this story. They keep up the appearance that they have money and wealth, but really they do not. The parents insist on keep in the upper class, and trying to maintain that status, even though they do not have the money to be in the upper class. Elaborate gifts, servants, and a pleasant house show that’s they are in the upper class, but are still near the bottom of the upper class “Because we are the poor members of the family,” (1) The appearance of wealth and the appearance of love are related in this short story. The family does not live comfortably in the upper class, and would live comfortably in the middle class, but they society keeps them pushing themselves to the very limit to stay upper class. Oscar Cresswell shows more of a wealthier upper class man, while Basset is a simply a young gardener, working for the family, most likely belonging to the lower class. Basset and Paul become partners, not following the class system, and it pays off, at least in the cash, at the end. When the three males come together, they win more than ever before, showing that if the classes come together, the result of winning the $80,000 is grand, but the young boy Paul dies because of it. Paul wishes to bring his family higher in the social classes, when really he cannot. If the family did not pretend to be what they are not, the disastrous death of Paul could have been