The Rocking Horse Winner Literary Analysis

The dramatic story of D.H. Lawrence’s “The Rocking Horse Winner” focuses on the life of a family torn between materialistic belongings and parental love. Paul’s intentions are ultimately to win his mother’s affection. The reader acknowledges Hester could not feel love, and we eagerly read on, in hopes Hester will open her heart to Paul. However, despite Paul’s secret monetary gifts to Hester, Paul’s “luck” is cut short without ever knowing motherly love. Hester, consumed by materialistic objects, is blind to Paul’s debilitating body and obsession with gambling. In “The Rocking Horse Winner,” D.H. Lawrence suggests that materialistic objects can hurt a relationship between parent and child. Hester is described as a selfish woman whose materialistic needs to be fulfilled are
We get a sense of her selfishness when the narrator states, “she had bonny children, yet she felt they had been thrust upon her, and she could not love them” (Lawrence 100). And the children knew this, yet her heart is cold and Hester is self-centered. The children are vaguely aware of the need for more money, stated over and over. We see how great the monetary needs are when the narrator states, “there was always the grinding sense of the shortage of money, though the style was always kept up (Lawrence 100). In fact, Hester is quite the model for materialism with her lavish garden, servants and social position she upholds herself. Hester’s social status is of utmost importance. Hester would rather go into debt just to appear to be someone she is not. As the story progresses, we learn there is no end to Hester’s materialistic needs. Hester buys expensive items, yet the