drawing of a young boy riding a rocking-horse

The Rocking-Horse Winner

by D. H. Lawrence

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The Rocking-Horse Winner

Analyzing "The Rocking-Horse Winner" through a Marxist lens reveals themes of class struggle and the destructive nature of materialism, as the family’s pursuit of wealth leads to tragedy. From a...

3 educator answers

The Rocking-Horse Winner

Paul's death in "The Rocking-Horse Winner" is caused by his obsessive quest to predict race winners to earn money for his greedy mother. This obsession leads to physical exhaustion and a fatal fever....

9 educator answers

The Rocking-Horse Winner

In D.H. Lawrence's "The Rocking-Horse Winner," the rocking horse symbolizes multiple themes including childhood, anxiety, and the futility of seeking love and wealth. It represents Paul's desperate...

18 educator answers

The Rocking-Horse Winner

Paul’s eyes represent his dreams, his passion and the futility of his attempts to get luck for his mother. The truth about Hester is in her eyes. When Paul tries to find luck, after his mother tells...

1 educator answer

The Rocking-Horse Winner

You are correct in your assumption here. Clearly in the tale there are two secrets going on - the more overt, clearly narrated one about Paul and his betting with Basset and Uncle Oscar, but then...

2 educator answers

The Rocking-Horse Winner

Paul's confusion about luck and its relationship to money stems from his mother's definition. She equates luck with financial success, implying that being lucky means having money. This perspective...

4 educator answers

The Rocking-Horse Winner

In "The Rocking-Horse Winner," Paul is a well-meaning child driven by a desire to earn his mother's love through financial success, which he equates with luck. His mother, Hester, is cold and...

6 educator answers

The Rocking-Horse Winner

Fairy tale elements in "The Rocking-Horse Winner" include the use of a magical toy, the personification of luck, and a moral lesson. These elements contribute to the story's purpose by highlighting...

5 educator answers

The Rocking-Horse Winner

"The Rocking-Horse Winner" by D.H. Lawrence is set in 1920s England and follows young Paul, who seeks his mother's love by using a rocking horse to predict horse race winners. The story explores...

21 educator answers

The Rocking-Horse Winner

The irony of the statement is that the uncle implies Paul is better off dead. The uncle realized Paul was mad and believes that the boy has been released from his agony. This reinforces the theme...

2 educator answers

The Rocking-Horse Winner

In "The Rocking-Horse Winner," Paul thinks his wooden horse with no name allows him to predict the winners of horse races. He believes that if he can make the rocking-horse gallop, it will win the...

6 educator answers

The Rocking-Horse Winner

The first description is "The boy watched her with unsure eyes" which indicates that he is thoughtful, ponderous.  Most of the descriptions are:  "His eyes had a strange glare", "big blue...

1 educator answer

The Rocking-Horse Winner

There are references to religion itself but these occur in discussions between Bassett and Uncle Oscar. After Oscar first discovers that Paul is interested in horse racing, Bassett tells him that...

1 educator answer

The Rocking-Horse Winner

Paul responds to the house's whispers by obsessively riding his rocking horse to predict winning horses in races, believing this will change his family's luck. His intense efforts stem from a desire...

3 educator answers

The Rocking-Horse Winner

In "The Rocking-Horse Winner," Paul partners with Bassett and Uncle Oscar to place bets on horse races. Paul provides winning predictions, Bassett places the bets, and Uncle Oscar funds them. They...

2 educator answers

The Rocking-Horse Winner

What are Lawrence's comments on parenting in the Rocking-Horse Winner? The parents are shallow, petty, and cold. They don't love their children and they don't show it.

1 educator answer

The Rocking-Horse Winner

Paul's initiation into horse betting begins when he starts riding his rocking-horse to predict the winners of horse races. His Uncle Oscar and the family gardener, Bassett, become involved after...

4 educator answers

The Rocking-Horse Winner

In D.H. Lawrence's "The Rocking-Horse Winner," Paul gives his mother £5,000 in installments as a birthday gift, hoping to alleviate her financial woes. However, his mother's greed and obsession with...

6 educator answers

The Rocking-Horse Winner

In D.H. Lawrence's "The Rocking-Horse Winner," the whispering symbolizes the insatiable greed and materialism of Paul's mother, reflecting the family's constant need for more money. The whispering...

5 educator answers

The Rocking-Horse Winner

In D.H. Lawrence's "The Rocking-Horse Winner," Paul is a young boy who internalizes the stress of his family's financial struggles, driven by his mother's obsession with wealth. Unlike typical...

4 educator answers

The Rocking-Horse Winner

In "The Rocking-Horse Winner," Lawrence uses the image of “blue stones” when describing Paul's eyes only once in the story. However, he does refer to their blue color on a number of occasions. He...

1 educator answer

The Rocking-Horse Winner

Paul likely avoids telling the secret of his rocking horse so that he can be sure to continue to make money by gambling. He fears that if his mother knew about the horse or his winnings, she would...

2 educator answers

The Rocking-Horse Winner

No direct reason is supplied for Paul's reluctance to let his mother know about his "luck." Paul says that if his mother knew "She'd stop me," and this perhaps reflects the way that Paul is gaining...

1 educator answer

The Rocking-Horse Winner

In "The Rocking-Horse Winner," Paul's obsession with horse racing stems from his desire to win his mother's love by proving himself lucky, as she equates luck with wealth. Haunted by the whispering...

7 educator answers

The Rocking-Horse Winner

In D.H. Lawrence's "The Rocking-Horse Winner," greed is a central theme that corrupts innocence and leads to tragic consequences. Paul, a young boy with a gift for predicting horse race winners, is...

8 educator answers

The Rocking-Horse Winner

Paul misunderstands what his uncle has said: although he hears the words "filthy lucker," the expression is "filthy lucre."  Lucre means monetary reward or gain.  "Oh ! " said Paul...

5 educator answers

The Rocking-Horse Winner

"The Rocking Horse Winner" clearly criticises the form of absent parenting modelled by Paul's mother in this short story. It is also a diatribe against unyielding materialism and a desire for...

1 educator answer

The Rocking-Horse Winner

In "The Rocking-Horse Winner," Paul's determination is driven by his desire to gain his mother's approval and secure the family's financial stability. His character develops from an innocent child to...

4 educator answers

The Rocking-Horse Winner

This question is very subjective, meaning that it is asking for your opinion. Only you can answer a question like this because only you know how you feel and what you think. I can give you my...

3 educator answers

The Rocking-Horse Winner

In a book which has become something of a minor classic, Points of View: An Anthology of Short Stories, editors James Moffett and Kenneth R. McElheny have compiled a collection of short stories...

1 educator answer

The Rocking-Horse Winner

Bassett's motivation for acquiring money is a normal, rational desire to get ahead financially in the world; Uncle Oscar's motivation is frenzy and greed.

2 educator answers

The Rocking-Horse Winner

Writs are usually legal documents issued by the courts, mandating some sort of behavior from a person.  In "The Rocking Horse Winner," the family is always short on money, and yet they live a...

1 educator answer

The Rocking-Horse Winner

The idea that fills the inhabitants of the house is that there is never enough money. For the mother money is an end in itself; by contrast, Paul hopes that enough money will finally satisfy his...

1 educator answer

The Rocking-Horse Winner

Paul can be described as earnest, eager to please, haunted, and mature for his age.  His main motivations are to win his mother's love by being lucky (which, to him, means earning money), and...

1 educator answer

The Rocking-Horse Winner

The protagonist is Paul, the little boy.  He is striving to, through the riding of his rocking-horse, win the affections of his cold and distant mother.  We can't help but relate to that...

1 educator answer

The Rocking-Horse Winner

Lawrence originally wrote this story about a friend of his and her obsession with money and greed. One wonders whether she remained his friend after reading this story. The reason why Paul's mother...

1 educator answer

The Rocking-Horse Winner

Hester's ambition for her son is that he becomes a success in the world, which she believes can only be accomplished if he acquires wealth. She knows that Paul's natural inclination is to follow in...

2 educator answers

The Rocking-Horse Winner

The answer to the question is that Paul's mother loves material goods, not her children, and that she has a need for social prestige. When Paul tries to give her what she wants in order to gain some...

1 educator answer

The Rocking-Horse Winner

The secret of the rocking horse is not revealed to Pauls' mother until the end of the story because she probably would have found it as strange as the reader. However, the reader is given many...

2 educator answers

The Rocking-Horse Winner

The description of Paul's eyes progress from innocence to madness.  The author uses adjectives like unsure, glaring, fiery, wild-eyed, and blue stones. These adjectives go from a pure...

2 educator answers

The Rocking-Horse Winner

D. H. Lawrence seems, as a prelude to describing how Paul is able to pick winning horses by riding his rocking-horse, to be suggesting that all children possess extrasensory perception. Paul and...

2 educator answers

The Rocking-Horse Winner

Actually, Paul's mother never is able to love him, even when he is on his deathbed. She does rush "to gather him up" in "tormented motherhood" when he falls from his rocking horse. She sits with...

2 educator answers

The Rocking-Horse Winner

In this story, little Paul is hopelessly striving to, through helping his mother get money, win her affection and love, and to help his entire household to be happy in order to quiet the voices...

1 educator answer