The Rocking Horse Winner

The Rocking Horse Winner

The Rocking Horse Winner is of D.H. Lawrence tells the story of a woman who is married with three children. In the story, she describes herself as being unlucky. The woman used to love her husband when they got married, however these feelings seem to have faded over time. She feels that she has made a mistake that she wishes to make up for but doesn’t know what exactly the mistake is. From the story, it is clear that Hester, the mother, is the antagonist. Instead of caring for her husband and kids she only values wealthy and appearances and attributes their financial position attributing everything to bad luck. What she does not understand is that love and affection from one’s family are more valuable than any amount of money.

The Mother's Fixation on Unhappiness

Instead of focusing on the welfare of her family, the mother remains fixated on her unhappiness. Her unhappiness stems from the fact that all the money she desires is not available to her. She says to her son, “I used to think I was, (lucky) before I married. Now I think I am very unlucky indeed.” (p.3). By saying this to her son, she is implying that he and his siblings play a part in her unhappiness since she had them after she got married. She does not realize how insensitive that comment is and how damaging it could be to her son. Paul believes he is lucky and thus works tirelessly to prove this to her mother by gambling no earn his mother more money.

A Mother's Lack of Love

Other people think that she is a loving mother to her children but the author explains that “only she herself knew that at the center of her heart was a hard little place that could feel no love, no, not for anybody,” (p.1). Parents are supposed to love their children regardless of the troubles they have in their marriages. The mother, however, due to the financial struggles, selfishness and greed does not show any warmth towards her children. It’s sad that the kids can realize that their mother did not love them and they could read it in her eyes. The children, especially Paul, can see how desperate their mother is for more money. To quench their mother’s thirst for wealth and get her love, Paul pushes himself too hard something that shouldn’t happen to any child.

The Unquenchable Thirst for Money

Even though she doesn’t know where the money she gets from the lawyer comes from she keeps squandering not knowing it was her son who had obtained it through gambling. Paul works tirelessly at predicting the winners because he regularly hears the house whisper how there must be more money. “She said she had no luck, because the father is unlucky, so I thought if I was lucky, it might stop whispering” (p.8). The whispers are as a result of his mother persistently worrying that there was too little money to afford everything they needed. The mother does not realize that she drives her son to his death due to their unquenchable thirst for money and social class.

The Blindness of Materialism

The mother does not understand how important her son is until he falls from his horse and dies. She was always obsessed with having more money and failed to realize that that had driven her to become a bad mother and wife. Many times people get attached to material things and fail to pay attention to the things and individuals that matter. The lust or more wealth creates blindness in their hearts which makes it hard for them to realize how the people around them are affected by their behaviors. People should understand that love and happiness gets destroyed by the need to have more money.

Works Cited

Bachelorandmaster. "The Rocking Horse Winner By Lawrence: Critical Commentary." Bachelorandmaster.com. N.p., 2017. Web. 15 Sept. 2017.

Hessel, Jessica. "Literary Analysis "The Rocking-Horse Winner." prezi.com. N.p., 2017. Web. 15 Sept. 2017.

Interestinliterature. "A Summary and Analysis of D. H. Lawrence’s ‘The Rocking-Horse Winner.'" Interesting Literature. N.p., 2017. Web. 15 Sept. 2017.

Lawrence, David. “The Rocking Horse Winner.” N.p., 2017. Web. 15 Sept. 2017.