D.H. Lawrence’s The Rocking-Horse Winner Literary Analysis Essay Example

Humans easily succumb to the idea of success and power, it is humanity's greatest downfall. In D.H. Lawrence’s “The Rocking-Horse Winner”, a child is compelled to gamble on horse races in order to please his mother’s dissatisfaction with her life. Paul, a young boy, has a toy rocking horse that seemingly tells him the winner of upcoming horse races. Paul uses this knowledge to win money for his mother who complains that she never has enough wealth. There are dangers to putting immense pressure on young children. Those who are overtaken by greed are bound to suffer the consequences.

Paul and his family’s home life was not happy, his mother was extremely dissatisfied due to her poor lifestyle and made it known. The wants of the mother had made the children, especially Paul, feel a pressure surrounding them to become better in order to attain wealth. The intense pressure he feels from his mother is indicated through whispers heard throughout the home. The children could hear the house whisper “there must be more, there must be more money” (Lawrence). It is never said out loud, but all Paul’s mother truly wants is to look better than those around her. Even as Paul would win on his bets it seemed to never be enough, the taste of wealth on his mother’s tongue only made her crave it more. As the story progresses and Paul's anxiety worsens, due to his mother’s pressure, he describes the voices going from whispering to screaming “in a sort of ecstasy: ‘There must be more money! … More than ever!’” (Lawrence). The persistent demands of the mother and her materialism were shrieked throughout the home. Paul’s compulsion to attain more, in order to please, had begun to worsen.

As a young child, Paul had a toy rocking horse he was obsessed with, the horse had been one of the nicest and most expensive possessions in the house. His mother chose to buy a luxurious gift instead of focusing that money on more important things and giving her children true affection. The rocking horse is a perfect representation of her materialism. Paul began to outgrow the toy but as his desire for money created by his mother grew, so did his obsession with the horse. The horse was a subconscious reminder of his mother’s wants that Paul felt he must provide. He would ride for hours to produce his prediction for the winner of the upcoming horse race. In his darkest time, he spent hours “madly surging on the rocking-horse” (Lawrence). The time spent with the rocking horse went from childhood admiration to absolute compulsion. Paul’s desperate attempts for his mother’s love was his gambling. Each time he stepped onto that horse to predict a winner, his mother’s desires filled his head. The children’s toy was a physical embodiment of her true love, money. 

Paul's eyes act as a way to gauge his emotions and state of mind, they symbolize his growing insanity. In the beginning, his eyes were described as unsure but as his desire for luck grew, his eyes revealed his changing nature. When Paul first set on becoming lucky and needing success, his eyes had a “strange glare” (Lawrence). After a bit of a losing streak Paul began to unravel and his avarice had descended into madness. He developed “blazing eyes” (Lawrence) that were solely focused on betting and winning the horse races. His intensity and obsession grew to the point where he could no longer control himself and drove himself to insanity. Finally, in illness, his eyes were described as stone, set in place and forever unwavering, symbolizing gluttony overtaking him. As the story progresses his eyes continually change and become less and less human-like, as if his personality had shifted, he was no longer an innocent boy, but now tainted with desire.

Greed can take over the mind and soul and leave a person enduring the repercussions of their actions. The whispers of the house turning into screaming, the riding of the horse going from childlike play to compulsive action, and Paul’s innocent eyes turning into a blaze and then harsh stone, all symbolize greed. The mothers greed infected young Paul’s mind and Paul had become so infatuated with the concept of luck and gaining wealth to get his mother’s praise. By the end, neither he nor his mother could stop him before it was too late, and he drove himself to an early grave.