Preview

Rocking Horse Winner Materialism

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
276 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Rocking Horse Winner Materialism
D.H. Lawrence’s 1926 short story, The Rocking Horse Winner, can be seen as an exemplum of love and materialism to coexist. The various family members in the story expose the greedy and materialistic obsession. The mother in the story, Hester, portrays an unsatisfiable desire for a luxurious lifestyle. Although Hester was born beautiful and “started with all the advantages”1(436), Hester believes she has become unlucky after marrying. In an attempt to satisfy his mother's desires, Paul, “went off by himself, vaguely, in a childish way, seeking for the clue to luck.”1(438) Due to Paul’s young age, he lacks certainty on what to look for. With no other choice Paul makes a deal with the devil.
Paul’s desperate search to satisfy his mother's material

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    In "The Rocking Horse Winner", Lawrence uses the whispering house and the rocking horse to show how greed gets you nowhere.…

    • 1413 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    “The Rocking Horse Winner” introduction almost foreshadows and sets the tone of the whole story. Both stories are similar in the ironic them of traditional and generational aspects. This story is based on tradition of family inheritance and is a generational curse, which is made to seem good but it is not. The irony of it is that Paul states that God told him that he was lucky, but in reality his means of getting money is done through sin. He is gambling to receive the money from betting in horse races. In this story personification was described by the author (the whispering house) throughout the story. It gives off a perceptive that it is a magical horse that tells the future to a child. The introduction is also viewed as depressing because of the relationship a mother has with her children. It's as if her spirit lingers throughout the house because of the way she view herself within.…

    • 831 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The three stories to be discussed in this essay are “The Bouquet” by Charles W. Chesnutt, “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, and “Gimpel the Fool” by Isaac Bashevis Singer. It’s interesting to dissect these pieces of literature to see how they reflect the time period they were written in, by whom they were written, and if the stories they read have any abnormalities outside what is expected.…

    • 1028 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In my opining, the only way a ritual can be continue every year it’s by teaching children the tradition. In “The Lottery” this kid name Bobby Martin and others had a great pile of stones in the corner. Probably the parents showed their kids that every year they need to do this. The kids probably don’t even know why they doing this but they probably have seen their parents to this before. They are following the tradition as their parents did before. There were people in the north village that were giving up the tradition but the old men Warner was saying that the lottery has been a tradition over 27 years. He was complaining about the young folks not appreciating the lottery. He was convincing Mr. Adams that the lottery was a good thing in the…

    • 233 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Lottery by Shirley Jackson and The Shawl by Cynthia Ozick are two short stories that when read in comparison can be seen as lacking similarity. It is often the case that when literature is read in contrast to another work there are a vast number of obvious differences between them. Aside from the two stories having apparent diversity in authors and characters it can be found that various other elements are exceptionally varied from one another. However, in many cases if a closer look is taken in the examination and comparison of two stories, similarities can be found. Perhaps both stories use symbolism in a similar manner by presenting the reader with a powerful message or maybe the two have a similar plot. Perhaps the similarity lies in something as simple as the theme the story portrays. By taking a closer look as to what The Lottery and The Shawl have in common, it can be seen that despite their differences they both have similar image presenting symbolism, a theme of survival, as well as a grim plot filled with tension.…

    • 1063 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In D.H. Lawrence’s offsetting story The Rocking Horse Winner, there are a number of intriguing characters presented to us. None, however, are quite as thought provoking or as clearly defined as Paul’s morally culpable, denatured mother, Hester. In a story full of viscous, confusing characters, Hester is directly and indirectly characterized as being a loveless, spiteful, greedy woman, who abides to the philosophy that luck coincides with prosperity. The first indicator of Hester’s personality is found by examining her relationship with her offspring, for although she has mothered and raised multiple children it is also shown that the relationship between mother and child is anything but maternal. Her neighbours and friends praise her, for they think that “she is such a good mother. She adores her children,” (Lawrence, 307) but that she herself and her children knew that was far from the truth, because “they read it in each other’s eyes,” (307). Hester’s character can further be analyzed as you observe her relationship concerning her dependence on luck, for “it’s what causes you to have money,” (308). She is living in the constant dissatisfaction of having insufficient funds to continue on her frivolous lifestyle, despite her inability to maturely address their current financial situation. Instead, she quickly draws parallels between their financial crisis and her husband simply being “very unlucky,” (308) rather than continuing to work towards a more stable situation. On top of treating the family’s financial dilemma maturely, the greed in her that seems to be one of the key causes to their strife is outlined indirectly through the course of events that take place after she learns about the five-thousand pound grant that she will have trickled down to her over the next five years. After learning of this, she immediately goes into town to talk to their lawyer, “asking if the whole five thousand could be advanced at once,” (315). Despite…

    • 390 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Koban, Charles. "Allegory And The Death Of The Heart In 'The Rocking-Horse Winner '." Studies In Short Fiction 15.4 (1978): 391. Literary Reference Center. Web. 12 Mar. 2013.…

    • 2198 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Some people read stories and see them all completely different with all completely different meanings. In a way that is correct, they are all different, however; though this analysis it will be shown that“The Lottery” and “Young Goodman Brown” are very similar through different literary elements of fiction. In “The Lottery” and “Young Goodman Brown,” authors Shirley Jackson and Nathaniel Hawthorne employ point of view, setting and conflict to show similarities between these two very different stories.…

    • 769 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The short stories, “The Lottery” and “Charles”, have notable differences in writing styles. “The Lottery”, is a story about chance. Will you be lucky enough to live for the day? “Charles” is about Laurie, who is starting Kindergarten and wants attention from his parents. In both short stories, the author, Shirley Jackson, described the characters, the themes, and the situations to create an illustration for the reader.…

    • 699 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Cited: Alexie, Sherman. “What You Pawn I Will Redeem.”Literature: Fiction: An Anthology of Stories for…

    • 900 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    The Rocking Horse Winner

    • 1292 Words
    • 6 Pages

    In the short story, “The Rocking-Horse Winner,” D. H. Lawrence portrays the main character, Paul, as someone who adopts an abnormal behavioral quirk and takes it to the ultimate extreme. He is the young son of a poor family in England whose members equate luck with money and money with love, consequently Paul has a distorted perception of what is required to be considered successful and also how to find affection. Much of Paul’s perception and consequent behavior can be attributed to his mother, who is a self absorbed spendthrift. Her general coldness and lack of interest imparts in Paul a desperation to find a way to provide her with the money she so obviously desires. He exhibits a great mount of luck in naming winning horses, which he attributes to his superstitious behavior. This abnormal behavior so consumes Paul that it leads to the end of his life in a failed attempt to gain his mother’s love. Paul’s determination to win, his hunger for his mother’s love and the abnormal, self-destructiveness behavior he exhibits are a direct result of his mother’s lack of emotion.…

    • 1292 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Rocking Horse Winner

    • 738 Words
    • 3 Pages

    D.H. Lawrence, the author of The Rocking Horse Winner, had many literary achievements that were overshadowed by controversy. His morality shocked much of mainstream society and this is what began his works in poems, stories, and novels. After Lawrence's death, society's views of his writings changed profoundly, although today it is still admired by many. The Rocking Horse Winner, holds much identity to it in its background.In the first half of the twentieth century, the class you were addressed to held the type of life one lived. As stated on page 1245, quote “ The human soul needs actual beauty more than bread,” gives a clear definition of that time. “ In Lawrence's early writing, violence is localized--in a family or job--and arises mostly from class conflict embedded in economic inequality.” (Squires) The Rocking Horse Winner will leave the messages of danger, greed and luck.…

    • 738 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Fiction Essay

    • 1209 Words
    • 5 Pages

    In this essay, “The Rocking Horse Winner” and “The Lottery” are compared and contrasted. Their different themes and different characters have some similarities. The things the characters do and want ultimately brings them to their very own downfall. Throughout this essay, I talk about how these characters are just like every ordinary person and how our society is well represented by the different themes in each of these stories. One character is cruel and self-centered and all of that leads to her own death while the other is “unlucky” and her greed and want for wealth leads to her very own son’s death.…

    • 1209 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    1.From the title ‘The Withered Arm’ a visual image is conceived of a disfigured arm in our mind…

    • 539 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The gruesome way the author portrayed Paul made the reader feel haunted. The contrast between the loving boy he once was with the lost and mad he is at the end sheds light on the dangers of child neglect influencing addiction. Where other stories covered certain classic morals, “The Rocking Horse Winner” took the liberty in discussing something a little more controversial. Gambling is something that is still perceived as a fun, painless activity that reaps reward. Lawrence shows how anyone could easily fall victim to this dangerous addiction just as Paul had, pointing out that those from broken homes are especially vulnerable to this.…

    • 947 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays