The Rocking Horse Winner

3 Pages 671 Words

Live for money, die for money
Through our life, we all strive to be wealthy, important, and to be loved. The story, “The Rocking Horse Winner”, written by D.H. Lawrence describes how a family relationship is affected by money, material gain and social position. Paul, the young son in the story, wants to be loved so much that he is willing to risk everything, even his life to try to earn his mothers’ love.
At the beginning of the story, the family is not happy since money is a big issue with them. To be successful in the society in which they lived, you had to have a certain amount of luck to be rich. “Why don’t we keep a car of our own? Why do we always use Uncle’s or a taxi?” “It’s because your father has no luck” (Lawrence 588-589). Since Paul’s mother thinks that her husband and the children are not lucky, then therefore they are not rich in her eyes. Even though they live like they are rich, they are living a “champagne taste on a beer budget”. She also does not have the love that she should have for her children because of this. She married for love in the beginning. The love that was once there has now faded, and she can not find any love but for herself now. Because of her love for money, she has a very cold heart and is always thinking of a way to get more money.
Because Paul wants to be loved, his drive to find luck was fueled by the whispers he heard throughout the house. “There must be more money! There must be more money” (Lawrence 588)! Paul thought that if he found luck, then he would be able to make the whispers stop and also make his mother happy. His method of searching for luck was rather unusual and would eventually lead to his downfall.
Paul would ride like crazy on an old rocking horse he had. Eventually, it seemed as if Paul found what he was looking for. He developed a habit of betting on horse races. After he started winning, he knew no different. It wa...