'The Rocking Horse Winner'

Paper Summary:

In this article, the writer discusses that "The Rocking-Horse Winner" typifies author D.H. Lawrence's beliefs concerning human greed and generosity, revulsion and love, and materialism and prudence. The writer notes that Lawrence penned this tale of a little boy's hopeless struggles to please his mother towards the end of his life and uses these juxtapositions throughout the narrative to represent his own final conclusions and observations about humanity in general. The writer concludes that "The Rocking-Horse Winner" is an attempt to explain the consequences of greed and materialistic desire. Further, the writer maintains that it is also a commentary on the state of the family unit today - how familial roles have become confused and unclear and how such a distortion can only lead to more immorality, self-indulgence, and decadence.

From the Paper:

"In the story, Lawrence paints a bleak and unpromising portrait of a family in the throes of desperation financially and emotionally. Everyone lives a luxurious existence they can scarcely afford and so they spend most of their time frenziedly finding ways to get more money. The characters are presented as unlucky and unsuccessful, but more than that - they are unfeeling, cold, distant, and not at all familial."
"Lawrence's tendency to write settings sparsely and enclose spaces with people and thoughts instead of physical objects plays a large part in this story and is noted as well in Stefania Micceluci's and Jill Franks' 2002 biography Space and Place in the Works of D.H. Lawrence. This remoteness and almost inhuman lack of feeling in location and in all his characters except one, Paul the young boy, is extremely disconcerting especially when seen in the mother. Mothers are traditionally depicted as the center of love and soul in a family but yet, it is she alone who could ostensibly be held responsible for Paul's reasons to ride so frenetically on his rocking horse - a ride so full of anguish and near madness that it ultimately leads to his death."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Black, Michael, D.H. Lawrence - The Early Philosophical Works, Cambridge University Press, January 31, 1992
• "Historical Context: "The Rocking-Horse Winner". "EXPLORING Short Stories,. Gale 2003. Discovering Collection. Thomson Gale.
• Golden, Joanne; Canan, Donna, English Journal. Urbana: May 2004. Vol. 93, Iss. 5; pg. 42, 5 pgs.
• Junkins, Donald, "'The Rocking Horse Winner': A Modern Myth," in Studies in Short Fiction, Vol. II, no. 1, Fall, 1964, pp.87-9
• Lawrence, DH. "The Rocking Horse Winner."

More papers on 'The Rocking Horse Winner':

• Essay # 72349 : "'The Rocking-Horse Winner'"
• Analytical Essay # 121192 : "D.H. Lawrence's "The Rocking-Horse Winner"
• Analytical Essay # 46989 : "The Rocking-Horse Winner": A Critique"
• Analytical Essay # 53683 : "Hades in Toyland: D.H. Lawrence's "The Rocking Horse Winner"

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