How is Rocking-Horse Winner similar to a fairy tale?

Fairy tales typically have magical elements and teach a lesson that demonstrates an important cultural value. Fairy tales also involve a specific problem that must be solved and generally incorporate either extremely wealthy or poverty-stricken characters. D.H. Lawrence's classic short story "Rocking-Horse Winner" incorporates many common elements typically found in fairy tales. The conflict of the story revolves around Paul's mother, who considers herself unlucky because she is not wealthy and cannot love her children. The magical elements incorporated throughout the story involve the house constantly whispering "There must be more money! There must be more money!" and Paul's magical rocking horse, which gives him knowledge about the winning horse in the upcoming races. Paul's family is not extremely wealthy, and Paul spends all of his energy attempting to win enough money to please his mother and stop the house from whispering. Paul's death holds an important moral lesson regarding the vain pursuit of wealth and teaches readers that money cannot buy happiness or love.

The Rocking-Horse Winner resembles a fairy tale in its depictions of luxurious living and mystical powers.

Hester and her husband symbolize the king and queen, and their children are royalty.

Paul can be compared to the prince in the line of succession with his uncle being of noble blood.

The gardener is the trusted family servant.

Hearing whispers of money means that the house is possessed by an evil spell—in this case—the need for an increasing amount of money. The uncle may be seen as a wise servant who looks out for the prince.

The rocking horse can be a fairy or a witch, depending on the story, that leads to the prince’s doom.

Thus, money becomes the “evil magic.”Paul's death, in the end, is the price for obtaining this magic. We do not see a happy ending or a time of mourning or grieving. 

Why does "The Rocking-Horse Winner" start like a fairy tale?

The story begins like a fairy tale because it will introduce an element of the supernatural, which is common in the fairy tale genre. Whether we realize it or not, we are cued how to read a story by elements in the story, and so Lawrence begins with the fairytale motif of filling in background quickly without providing specific names or places. This gives the story its mythic, timeless quality. It also introduces us to the classic fairytale "witch" in the form of the mother who is incapable of loving her children.

Lawrence will move into some small sense of place or time; the Derby clues us in, for example, that the setting is England, but the story largely continues in a generic way. We don't know what city the family lives in, the name of their street, or their last name, although we do learn Uncle Oscar's last name.

This fairytale quality makes us accept the magic of Paul being able to predict winning racehorses by riding his rocking horse furiously, a situation that would make no sense in a realistic story. It also allows the story to act as a fable with a moral.

The short story "The Rocking-Horse Winner" begins like a fairy tale to set the scene for the remainder of the story, which incorporates many elements of the fairy tale genre. First of all, many fairy tales begin with "Once upon a time . . . " This story begins in much the same way, with "There was a woman," and in paragraph two, "There were a boy and two little girls . . . " This structure echoes that of the classic fairy tale's "once upon a time."

Secondly, fairy tales typically have a magic object. Of course, in this tale, that is the rocking horse. Thirdly, the protagonist, Paul, must overcome an obstacle: "no money." This task, unfortunately, leads to his death. In addition to an overarching obstacle, fairy tales typically have an antagonist who has an evil motivation. The mother is this antagonist—she is driven by her own greed for personal gain. Lastly, fairy tales teach a lesson. One of the main themes of this tale is that materialism and greed can lead to destruction. Therefore, this story could easily be discussed as a fairy tale in much the same light as "Hansel and Gretel" and other well-known fairy tales.

The story begins like a fairy tale because it uses magic and is designed to teach a moral, that you should focus on those you love and not material possessions.

The story begins with a description of a woman.

There was a woman who was beautiful, who started with all the advantages, yet she had no luck.  

This is a very fairy-tale like beginning, because it introduces the woman as being beautiful (common in a fairy tale), but also comments on her luck.

There is also an element of magic in the story, just as with a fairy tale.  The boy uses the rocking horse to put himself into a magical trance-like state so that he can determine the winners of the horse races.

The boy insisted on putting a thousand on the horse, Bassett went for five hundred, and Oscar Cresswell two hundred.  Lively Spark came in first, and the betting had been ten to one against him, Paul had made ten thousand.

Finally, there is a clear moral to the story.  Because Hester is more concerned with money than her son, and she loses her son because of it. 

He neither slept nor regained consciousness, and his eyes were like blue stones. His mother sat, feeling her heart had gone, turned actually into a stone.

It is his mother’s greed and unceasing desire for money that causes her son’s death.  She thinks only of herself, and she pays with her son’s life.  He wanted to take care of her, to help her.  His was a self-less sacrifice, and hers was a completely selfish act.

What differences exist between general fairy tales and "The Rocking-Horse Winner"?

There are a lot of similarities between fairy tales and "The Rocking-Horse Winner," but it is good to note their differences also.  Fairy tales usually have a really horrible, clear-cut antagonist or bad guy/girl.  There's an evil witch, there's demons and ghouls, and in "The Rocking-Horse Winner," there is no such obviously evil and creepy villian.  The villian instead is a metaphorical or symbolic one, and that is greed.  Paul's mother is also cold and remote, prompting Paul to unhealthy actions.

Another difference is in the actual settings.  Fairy tales are typically set in some fantasy land of castles and magic, or in times long, long ago.  "The Rocking-Horse Winner" is set in what could be modern times, today.  There are no castles, no trolls, no magical fairies and knights; it's just a modern, average family in an average lifestyle.

Also, consider the ending--fairy tales are classically wrapped up with the famous line, "And they lived happily ever after," and the main protagonist of the story does not die.  He or she lives, finds total and complete happiness and love, and their lives are bliss.  This is definitely not the case with Paul; his journey kills him.  He does not ever truly gain the love he seeks from his mother, he does not quiet the haunting voices in the house, and does not live happily ever after.  The pursuit of money and luck kills him. There's no magical apple, or princess that can revive him with a kiss.  He's gone, and the story ends very sadly on that note.

I hope that those thoughts helped; good luck!