The Rocking Horse Winner Themes PDF

**THE ROCKING HORSE WINNER** **-D.H. Lawrence** **THEMES** **Greed and Materialism** The plot of "The Rocking-Horse Winner" is fueled by a cycle of approval and greed. [Hester](https://www.litcharts.com/lit/the-rocking-horse-winner/characters/hester) sets this cycle in motion by seeking the appr...

**THE ROCKING HORSE WINNER** **-D.H. Lawrence** **THEMES** **Greed and Materialism** The plot of "The Rocking-Horse Winner" is fueled by a cycle of approval and greed. [Hester](https://www.litcharts.com/lit/the-rocking-horse-winner/characters/hester) sets this cycle in motion by seeking the approval of her neighbors. She does not have enough money to live the lifestyle that they do, but she wants their approval so badly that she becomes greedy for more material wealth. 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. [Paul](https://www.litcharts.com/lit/the-rocking-horse-winner/characters/paul) and his siblings feel as though the house is constantly whispering that they need money, but when Paul manages to actually give Hester some money, her greed only grows. Instead of repaying her debts, she purchases new furniture and prepares to send Paul to a more prestigious school---investments which are tailored toward winning the approval of the outside world instead of providing comfort to her family or leading a sustainable lifestyle. Paul's desire for approval also leads to greed, although he does not want any money for himself. Instead, he wants his mother to think of him as lucky, so he becomes obsessed with finding luck---so much so that he whips his toy [rocking-horse](https://www.litcharts.com/lit/the-rocking-horse-winner/symbols/the-rocking-horse) and rides him furiously in an effort to obtain this state of "luck." In many ways, Paul's greed is much less selfish than that of Hester, as he does not want money for himself, and only becomes greedy to help his mother and quiet the voices in his house. Hester's greed, on the other hand, is entirely selfish. But Paul's selflessness does not save him: he becomes so obsessive and intense in his pursuit of luck that he dies in the process. Ultimately Lawrence exposes greed as always harmful, no matter the intentions behind it. **Luck and Hardwork** Hester defines luck as that which "causes you to have money." She tells [Paul](https://www.litcharts.com/lit/the-rocking-horse-winner/characters/paul) that one is born lucky or not, and God chooses to make people lucky at random. Hester values luck because she believes that if she were lucky, she would be rich and never need to worry about working or losing her fortune. She tells Paul that she used to think she was lucky, but now she thinks she isn't because she married someone who doesn't make money ([Paul's father](https://www.litcharts.com/lit/the-rocking-horse-winner/characters)). Hester's focus on luck rather than hard work or skill as the source of money gives her a kind of emotional benefit: she is able to blame her husband and the rest of the world for her lack of money instead of herself. Although Hester does try to work and make an income for herself, she doesn't make a great deal, and certainly not enough to cover her spending. Of course, making a little money is certainly better than making no money at all, but Hester continues to complain about her luck instead of working more or spending less. Hester's focus on luck rather than work is disastrous for Paul. Paul internalizes his mother's lessons, and in him the emotional anxieties of the house become almost physical. Paul becomes fixated on being lucky---a luck he can only achieve through mad physical effort on his [rocking-horse](https://www.litcharts.com/lit/the-rocking-horse-winner/symbols/the-rocking-horse)---in an attempt to quiet his house's whispers about his family's financial anxieties. And Paul's luck does come through: compared to the measly amount that Hester is paid for her work, Paul is able to win a truly enormous sum of money through his "hard work" (which, incidentally, is the very definition of useless labor---just rocking back and forth and producing nothing). But although Paul expends so much effort in the pursuit of luck, he is in the end very unlucky. Were Paul truly just "lucky," he would be able to bet on a horse at random and that horse would win. Instead, Paul needs to work himself up into a frenzied state until he "knows" which horse to bet on. When Paul bets without "knowing," he usually loses. Paul's struggle, in the end, gives no easy answers about luck and hard work, and why some things make money and others don't. Paul gains money not through luck, but only through his hard work and great personal sacrifice---essentially working for his luck---but Lawrence makes it clear that this is not an inspirational tale about the value of hard work, as the effort ends up killing Paul. **Anxiety** Paul's home is so full of anxiety that even the house itself seems to worry over the family's financial situation. [Hester](https://www.litcharts.com/lit/the-rocking-horse-winner/characters/hester) and Paul, the two main characters, take different approaches to relieving their anxiety. Hester complains and spends more, while Paul works with [Bassett](https://www.litcharts.com/lit/the-rocking-horse-winner/characters/bassett) and rides his [rocking-horse](https://www.litcharts.com/lit/the-rocking-horse-winner/symbols/the-rocking-horse) frantically---but neither character is successful. In fact, both of them become more anxious as the story progresses. Paul is made so anxious by his whispering house that he starts obsessively riding his rocking horse for hours in search of "luck." He does end up making lots of money this way, but Hester only becomes more anxious when she receives Paul's monetary gift. Further, as Paul becomes more obsessed with riding his horse, Hester grows anxious about him as well. In the beginning of the story, Hester seems to think little about her children, but by the end she is concerned with Paul's wellbeing---so much so that Paul himself tries to reassure her and tell her not to worry. Yet in the end, her anxiety does not compel her to pay enough attention to Paul to prevent his death---she is too focused on her own feelings, even if those feelings still relate to Paul. Anxiety thus is portrayed in the story as something that becomes separate from its initial cause, so that those who suffer from it often focus on the anxiety itself rather than on its causes. Although this story is full of anxiety, that anxiety is rarely acknowledged out loud. Indeed, Paul and his siblings do not even discuss their mutual feeling that their house is whispering about the need for more money. Anxiety in the story is internal and unspoken, and it separates people. It is conveyed not through conversation or connection but silently, though the [eyes](https://www.litcharts.com/lit/the-rocking-horse-winner/symbols/eyes). Paul is repeatedly described as having mad or frenzied eyes, particularly in contrast to the rocking-horse's cool and calm ones, and the children only use glances to "share" that they all hear the whispering house. Overall, this sense of anxiety and dread permeates the entire story, affecting the characters and their actions, and also the general mood of the work itself. **Family and Intimacy** When [Paul](https://www.litcharts.com/lit/the-rocking-horse-winner/characters/paul) dies, [Uncle Oscar](https://www.litcharts.com/lit/the-rocking-horse-winner/characters/oscar-cresswell-uncle-oscar) implies to [Hester](https://www.litcharts.com/lit/the-rocking-horse-winner/characters/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. Oscar clearly does not care deeply for Paul, even though Paul is his nephew and helped him win thousands of pounds. Hester initially seems not to care for her children either and feels cold whenever they are around her. When Paul falls ill, however, she is overcome with "tormented motherhood." While she previously felt stony-hearted toward her children because she was not attached to them, she now feels as through her heart has vanished altogether and become a stone. Instead of feeling coldness, she now feels loss and despair. Paul and Hester are not close during Paul's lifetime, although they may have been growing closer---but then Paul dies, and Lawrence doesn't even show us Hester's reaction. Instead we just see Oscar's callous weighing of Paul's death in terms of its monetary value. While Hester's emotions could certainly be interpreted as the feelings of love that a mother should naturally have for her son, some critics have interpreted "The Rocking Horse Winner" in a more sexual, psychoanalytical way. These writers see Paul's riding motion and the frenzied state he falls into while riding as metaphors for intercourse or masturbation. Since Paul rides the [rocking-horse](https://www.litcharts.com/lit/the-rocking-horse-winner/symbols/the-rocking-horse) to please his mother in particular, some think that this story has Freudian undertones. Psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud believed in the existence of an Oedipal complex, or that young boys are first sexually attracted to their own mothers. According to Freud, healthy children grow out of this desire, but those with neuroses do not. Thus, while "The Rocking Horse Winner" can be read as a story about the pitfalls of luck and greed, it can also be interpreted as a portrait of sexual neurosis, and how Paul's frustrated Oedipal desires ultimately lead to his death. **SYMBOLS** (Objects in the story that has a larger meaning) **The Rocking Horse** The [rocking-horse](https://www.litcharts.com/lit/the-rocking-horse-winner/symbols/the-rocking-horse) has multiple symbolic meanings in Lawrence's story. The fact that at the beginning of the story, [Paul](https://www.litcharts.com/lit/the-rocking-horse-winner/characters/paul) has a rocking-horse but not a tutor is proof of [Hester](https://www.litcharts.com/lit/the-rocking-horse-winner/characters/hester)'s skewed values. She is very materialistic, and prizes her ability to buy her children beautiful Christmas presents more than she values their education. Rocking-horses are also toys that children typically age out of, but Paul continues to use his despite the many protests of his family members. His attachment to the toy suggests that he is not growing up in a normal way. Although the rocking-horse itself is a toy, its form is based on a real horse---an animal that can be wild and difficult to tame (or predict how it will act, as Paul seeks to do in his betting). In some ways, Paul might be compared to the rocking-horse: he seems innocent, but there is a wild force within him that cannot be controlled. He rides his rocking-horse so fiercely that the seemingly-harmless toy comes to seem malevolent and powerful, and perhaps even causes Paul's death. **Eyes** Lawrence frequently describes his characters' [eyes](https://www.litcharts.com/lit/the-rocking-horse-winner/symbols/eyes) and uses them as indicators of a character's emotional state. He pays particular attention to [Paul](https://www.litcharts.com/lit/the-rocking-horse-winner/characters/paul)'s eyes, which undergo a change over the course of the story. When Paul first begins to ride his [rocking-horse](https://www.litcharts.com/lit/the-rocking-horse-winner/symbols/the-rocking-horse), his eyes are described as being "close-set" and having "a strange glare." This is in contrast the rocking-horse's eyes, which are wide set and bright. As Paul's obsession with luck intensifies, his eyes turn into "blue fire." At the end of Paul's life, he is so intensely focused on becoming lucky that his eyes are "uncanny," or strange and unsettling. "Uncanny" can also refer to something that is supernatural, and the appearance of Paul's eyes suggests that he has ridden his horse so hard that he has ceased to be human, or at least a normal, healthy one. Eyes are also important communicative tools among the other characters in the story. The children recognize that their mother [Hester](https://www.litcharts.com/lit/the-rocking-horse-winner/characters/hester) does not love them by looking in her eyes. The children also use their eyes to communicate an unspoken understanding that they can all hear the house whispering. **CHARACTERS** **Paul** Paul is the protagonist of the story. He is a small boy with strange blue eyes, and he seems to feel emotions so fiercely that he cannot control them. He recognizes that his mother Hester doesn't love him, and he becomes obsessed with luck -- particularly luck that leads to financial gain -- and proving to Hester that he is lucky. He starts riding his [rocking-horse](https://www.litcharts.com/lit/the-rocking-horse-winner/symbols/the-rocking-horse) until he reaches a trance-like state in which it is revealed to him what horse he should bet on in upcoming horse races. Paul wants to make money for his mother (who values it above all else) and to stop his house from "whispering" about their family's constant need for more money. Paul becomes increasingly obsessive over the course of the story, and even transitions into an almost supernatural or inhuman figure. In the end he rides his rocking-horse with such intensity that he collapses and dies. **Oscar Creswell (Uncle Oscar)** Oscar is [Paul](https://www.litcharts.com/lit/the-rocking-horse-winner/characters/paul)'s wealthy, greedy uncle. He likes horse races and uses Paul's tips to make bets himself. He also encourages Paul to give [Hester](https://www.litcharts.com/lit/the-rocking-horse-winner/characters/hester) some of his winnings. When Paul dies, Oscar suggests that Hester is better off having the money Paul made instead of having a strange son---or at least that Paul is better off dead than living in such a state. Ultimately it's implied that Oscar values wealth above everything else, and was only using his nephew's strange ability for his own benefit. **Hester** Hester is [Paul](https://www.litcharts.com/lit/the-rocking-horse-winner/characters/paul)'s mother, a middle-class woman with two other children as well. She is obsessed with appearances, and particularly with keeping up the appearance of being wealthier than she actually is. Hester believes strongly in luck, and thinks that she is unlucky because she married a man ([Paul's father](https://www.litcharts.com/lit/the-rocking-horse-winner/characters)) who doesn't make a lot of money. At the beginning of the story, Hester feels cold toward her children and cannot make herself love them. By the end of the story, however, she is overwhelmed with concern for Paul's well-being---although Lawrence doesn't show her reaction to Paul's death.