Literary Analysis
James Henderson
Literary Analysis
English 1301
Dr. Thompson
The Rocking Horse Winner
D.H. Lawrence was an English writer, whose story “The Rocking Horse Winner” was published in 1926. Lawrence’s work is famous for his exploration of the human mind through frank explanations of sex, psychology, and religion. Critics view “The Rocking Horse Winner” as “an example of Lawrence’s most accomplished writings.” His early writings are nineteenth century English style short story. “The rocking horse winner” was written when he was moving to a more satirical style of writing. Some critics argue that the characters in the story are modeled after one of Lawrence’s friend, Lady Cynthia Asquith, and her autistic child. “The Rocking Horse Winner” is a bitter story with a detached tone, moralizing the value of love and the dangers of money. It shows Lawrence’s disdain for materialism and distant parenting that was very popular in England in the nineteenth century. Because of this, many people tend to see it as a modest story.
“The Rocking Horse Winner” is a story about a boy named Paul, who has a gift of choosing the winning horse in horse races. The narrator explains how his mother is incapable of showing love, and how his family is always coming up short with money. The boy is very aware of his mother’s desperation for wealth. This motivates him to take action to try and get his mother money by riding his rocking horse until he knows the name of the winning horse. He also wants to silence the haunting voices in the house that always seem to say “there must be more money!”(1224). When Paul asks his mother why they have no car and why they are poor she tells him it is because his father gave them no luck. He then claims that he does have luck because “God told him so”(1225) and is determined to prove it. Paul proves himself to be able to find the winning horses and saves up a large amount of money. He arranges to give it to his mother as an anonymous gift. After the final
Literary Analysis
English 1301
Dr. Thompson
The Rocking Horse Winner
D.H. Lawrence was an English writer, whose story “The Rocking Horse Winner” was published in 1926. Lawrence’s work is famous for his exploration of the human mind through frank explanations of sex, psychology, and religion. Critics view “The Rocking Horse Winner” as “an example of Lawrence’s most accomplished writings.” His early writings are nineteenth century English style short story. “The rocking horse winner” was written when he was moving to a more satirical style of writing. Some critics argue that the characters in the story are modeled after one of Lawrence’s friend, Lady Cynthia Asquith, and her autistic child. “The Rocking Horse Winner” is a bitter story with a detached tone, moralizing the value of love and the dangers of money. It shows Lawrence’s disdain for materialism and distant parenting that was very popular in England in the nineteenth century. Because of this, many people tend to see it as a modest story.
“The Rocking Horse Winner” is a story about a boy named Paul, who has a gift of choosing the winning horse in horse races. The narrator explains how his mother is incapable of showing love, and how his family is always coming up short with money. The boy is very aware of his mother’s desperation for wealth. This motivates him to take action to try and get his mother money by riding his rocking horse until he knows the name of the winning horse. He also wants to silence the haunting voices in the house that always seem to say “there must be more money!”(1224). When Paul asks his mother why they have no car and why they are poor she tells him it is because his father gave them no luck. He then claims that he does have luck because “God told him so”(1225) and is determined to prove it. Paul proves himself to be able to find the winning horses and saves up a large amount of money. He arranges to give it to his mother as an anonymous gift. After the final