Rocking Horse Winner

Greed in the Rocking Horse Winner

In the story Rocking Horse Winner by DH Lawrence the greed for money and social status by the mother causes Paul to sacrifice himself for her needs. In the Rocking horse winner all Paul tries to do is win his mothers love. His mother tells him that his father is not very lucky. Paul wants to prove in a way that he is lucky to his mother. However, in the end Paul tries too hard exerting all his mental capacity to win his mothers love and dies. The relationships that result in conflict are between Paul's mother and their lack of money. The standard of living in their society is very important to Paul's family but it becomes a destructive force. The symbolism unrolls the theme by Paul's wooden rocking horse, his wild eyes and the whispering within the house. he has a supernatural power in which he can figure out with his rocking horse that will win the race.The theme in the story comes out when Paul says "I never told you, mother, that if I can ride my horse, and get there, then I'm absolutely sure - oh, absolutely! Mother, did I ever tell you? I am lucky!" and the mother replies, “No, you never did”. All Paul wanted was to show his mother that he was lucky.

Paul's mother is so determined to fit in with society but she does not notice that her desires are ruining her family. A conversation with Hester and Paul displays how she feels about Paul. Hester believes that being lucky is the key to becoming rich, but her belief has a large impact on Paul. Paul is determined to receive his mothers attention when he says "I'm a lucky person," and then she goes on to say "excellent," but in a sarcastic manner, which makes him more compelled in receiving her attention.

Also, when Paul started winning the horse races he decided to give his mother 5000 pounds and when it arrived in the mail Paul asks "didn't you have anything nice in the post for your Birthday, mother?" her reply is "Quite moderately nice." It seemed that the mother...