Hades in Toyland: D.H. Lawrence's "The Rocking Horse Winner"

Paper Summary:

This paper examines D. H. Lawrence's use of a fairy tale structure to enhance the ironic tone of the story,"The Rocking-Horse Winner", by controlling three critical literary elements: plot, allusion, and symbolism. The author points out that Lawrence effectively uses the irony of the fairy tale structure to show how children can be overburdened and destroyed when the problems of the adult world, such as obsession, greed and jealousy, are transferred to the child's world. The paper concludes that, although Lawrence is clearly a master writer, perhaps a writer with a different style, such as O'Henry, could take the same subject matter and write a story without the tragic overtones that are characteristic of "The Rocking-Horse Winner".

From the Paper:

"However, even though the parallels are imperfect, they don't obscure allusions to other stories in the genre. The idea of a "gift" that is turned against a main character is a theme that recurs throughout the fairy tale and myth genres. The story of King Midas is about a gift that is turned into a curse. His greed for gold is turned into a "golden touch" that destroys everything and everyone he holds dear. Likewise, Paul's gift of special knowledge from the rocking horse is turned against him when his mother spends the money he wins at the races faster than he can win it."

More papers on Hades in Toyland: D.H. Lawrence's "The Rocking Horse Winner":

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