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

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".