The rocking horse winner theme. The Rocking Horse Winner Theme 2022-12-27
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The theme of "The Rocking Horse Winner" by D.H. Lawrence is the destructive power of materialism and the corrupting influence it can have on individuals and their relationships. The story follows the life of a young boy named Paul who is caught in the middle of his parents' unhealthy obsession with wealth and social status.
Paul's mother, Hester, is depicted as a cold and distant woman who is never satisfied with the family's financial situation. She is constantly worried about money and is convinced that they need more in order to be happy and successful. Hester's obsession with material possessions and social status drives a wedge between her and her family, as she is more concerned with appearances than with genuine love and affection.
Paul, on the other hand, is a sensitive and intuitive child who is able to sense the tension and unhappiness in his family. In an effort to bring happiness and financial stability to his family, Paul becomes fixated on winning money through his hobby of riding his rocking horse. Tragically, Paul's obsession with winning becomes all-consuming, leading him to neglect his own health and ultimately resulting in his untimely death.
Through the character of Paul, Lawrence suggests that the pursuit of material wealth can lead individuals to neglect their own well-being and the well-being of those around them. The story highlights the destructive power of materialism and the corrupting influence it can have on individuals and their relationships. It serves as a cautionary tale about the dangers of placing too much value on material possessions and social status at the expense of genuine human connection and happiness.
The Rocking Horse Winner Theme
The more money Paul makes from his gambling winnings, the more his mother desires. How does the trait support help illustrate the conflicts and theme? Proving to be able to pick winners consistently, which he claims to discover while riding his rocking horse, he forms a secret syndicate with Bassett and his uncle which is soon thousands of pounds in profit. When the two girls were playing dolls, in the nursery, he would sit on his big rocking-horse, charging madly into space with a frenzy that made the little girls peer at him uneasily. Paul refuses to be sent away from the house. With the help of his maternal uncle, he bets on the horse and starts collecting the money and secretly sends to mother. Paul did not want Hester to know he was lucky because he was afraid of her disapproval. The mother too gives high value for money and status than the love and family bond.
The first theme is obsession with money. Paul tells Hester that he wants the rocking-horse to keep him company until he is able to get a real horse. The preoccupation with money as a measure of worth in the mother's mind becomes so prevalent in the home that her son Paul complains to his uncle, "I hate our house for whispering. His mother never becomes happy because she wants more and more. When he does not pick a winner for the Grand National, Paul becomes "wild-eyed and strange, as if something were going to explode in him.
For him, being lucky means to possess much money. Meanwhile her son Paul strikes up a friendship with Bassett, the new Convinced that he is lucky, Paul asks Bassett to place a small wager on a horse. Paul starts to search inside himself for luck and becomes overwhelmed by his desire for it. It is the place where Paul can predict the name of winning horse in the race. There are several recurring themes that emerge in Oedipus Complex that arises between Paul and his mother. Paul is too determined to uplift his social status and he has to find the winners.
Paul explains that he cannot go before the Derby a big horse race. Two of the major themes of the story are pitted against each other in "The Rocking Horse Winner". 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. When Paul dies, Uncle Oscar implies to Hester that she is actually better off now—she has eighty thousand pounds and no longer has to deal with a son who was unfit to manage in the world. Hutchinson's Death Whose Fault? Her greed even makes her blind to the fact that her anxiety over money and the approval of others has a deep effect on her children. By saying that money comes from luck and that luck is God-given, she is able to be upset about her situation without actually having to do anything about it.
The Rocking Horse Winner by Lawrence: Critical Commentary
Paul's mother shows little attention to her son or husband, concentrating only on money and finding ways to spend it. Sometimes, for half an hour, she would feel a sudden anxiety about him that was almost anguish. It is a sign of change that unexpectedly reaches the family and takes something crucial. The narrative begins with a mother, Hester, who is struggling with whether she loves The Rocking Horse Winner Theme Analysis The Rocking Horse Winner The dramatic short story "The rocking horse winner," is about a young boy who desires to be loved by his mother. Psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud believed in the existence of an Oedipal complex, or that young boys are first sexually attracted to their own mothers.
. Paul makes Oscar promise once again not to tell anyone else, because Paul has promised Bassett that the two of them would work together as partners. In the beginning of the story, Paul seeks to find his mother's love by gaining luck. Lawrence with the use of dramatic relationships implies the theme of the story. He offers Uncle Oscar a place as a partner with Bassett and himself, but only if Uncle Oscar promises not to tell anyone else.
Paul's Mother in "Rocking Horse Winner" by Lawrence
Then Paul collapses on the ground and his mother rushes toward him. He suggests that Hester is better off with eighty thousand pounds than with a strange, weak son, but his comment about Paul is more difficult to interpret. Since Paul rides the rocking-horse to please his mother in particular, some think that this story has Freudian undertones. The horse possesses powers to bring the boy luck and make him crazy. Works Cited Lawrence, David Herbert. Both short stories have similar endings that end in unfortunate deaths, but the themes are contrasting to each other.
Insincere, secretive, unconfident Since the mother practiced her hobby in secrecy, her actions demonstrate her fear of failing, her insincere heart, and the lack of ability to succeed at anything due to her obsession with being unlucky. It illustrates her obsession with the concept of luck, which obstructs her ability to live a happy life. The message is that love and money are incompatible, and people can never be happy in their chase for money. It is never clear why Paul is so drawn to his rocking-horse, but it is obviously an important symbol in the story. Paul has a supernatural power which he can commute with his rocking horse to find out the winning races. The Rocking Horse Winner and Bad Luck Use of Tone to Create Mood in D. The rocking horse that the story centers around is multifaceted and calls attention to many different things.
