They heard it at Christmas, when the expensive and splendid toys filled the nursery. Behind the shining modern rocking-horse, behind the smart doll’s-house, a voice would start whispering: “There must be more money! There must be more money!” And the Read more…
Peace. At the end of the war, the Army had far more horses than it needed in peacetime. Around 500,000 were sold for work, about 100,000 of these in Britain, the rest abroad. Owing to public concern about the treatment Read more…
At the beginning of the story, Hester feels cold toward her children and cannot make herself love them. By the end of the story, however, she is overwhelmed with concern for Paul’s well-being—although Lawrence doesn’t show her reaction to Paul’s Read more…
Paul is obsessively attached to the horse, a material item, and the materialism leads to his death. Lawrence uses the Lawrence to symbolize the dangers of chasing wealth and his disdain for conspicuous consumption. What does the rocking horse symbolize Read more…
It is not Paul who wins the rocking horse, but rather the rocking horse that “wins” (or possesses) Paul. Since the rocking horse symbolizes materialism, greed, and sexual danger (see our “Symbols, Imagery, Allegory” section), the title is an ironic Read more…
The whisper in the house is a metaphor, a haunting “by the unspoken phrase” that the members of the family understand but do not voice, yet are keenly aware of while they are in the house. What does the house Read more…
The Rocking Horse Winner first published in 1926 by D.H. Lawrence is considered to be an example of D.H. Lawrence prose. It is his hatred towards growing consumerism, crass materialism and affection-less parenting style of English people. What type of Read more…
Paul’s relationship with his mother was not ideal at all. His mother provided an unhealthy environment for him with her obsession with money. Paul believed if he could provide his mother with money it would appease her unhappiness and she Read more…
7. A commercial writer would have ended the story by the mother teaching Paul an important life lesson about greed and then using the experience to fix her own problems. 8. How would you end The Rocking-Horse Winner? The ending Read more…
He always keeps twenty pounds in reserve, and has plans to bet three hundred pounds on a horse named Daffodil at the next race. Uncle Oscar humors Paul, and offers to put five pounds on a horse for him. Paul Read more…